#MyVogueScandinavia: How this photographer uses Nordic light to create melancholic yet beautiful images

Tina Signesdottir believes that she has been an artist all her life. “Photography is my artistic expression form, it came to life in my late teens,” she says. “For me, to photograph is as necessary as breathing, and you have to breathe.” Based in Haugesund, Norway, the self-taught photographer creates arresting images that are dark, dramatic and utterly Nordic.

By her own admission, Signesdottir is a highly sensitive person, finding her inspiration from within and using her work to convey genuine emotions. She selects her models with great care; both their external aesthetics and their internal thoughts and feelings bring an extra layer to her photos. “Being the photographer, I see myself as the second voice. The model is always the first voice, and the third voice is all of the other people who have inspired me and believed in me throughout my artistic journey.”

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Signesdottir is deeply connected with her Norwegian roots. “I think of myself as a Nordic artist, I consider my work to have elements of naturalism and I find great inspiration from the old painters,” she says. Museums and historical houses from the 19th century often serve as the backdrops in her photographs, juxtaposed against aspects of modern simplicity and minimalism. Her images are bathed in natural Norwegian light. “The dark and the light always takes my breath away,” she says. “The Nordic light is something very special we have in this part of the world – it’s magic.”

For this issue of Vogue Scandinavia, Signesdottir decided to work with two of her long-time muses: Lina, a model, and Catherine, her dear friend. “I started to photograph them together 10 years ago, and have made several series with them in the past,” Signesdottir explains. She started working with Lina when the model was only 10 years old. “She is very special to me, and she’s an inspiration,” says the photographer. She and Lina get together every year to create a conceptual series, getting to know each other intimately over the years. “We do not need to talk much when we work together, Lina always knows what I want without me having to say anything,” Signesdottir explains. “People who have seen us work together say it’s fascinating to see how we communicate. Like a quiet dance.”

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To make these images more personal, the photographer shot right in her backyard. “The images were shot locally, in the woods where I live, in the early morning light as dawn broke,” she says. The photographer only works with natural light, spending hours scouting for the right locations and time of day, to ensure she gets the exact image she’s after. “I try to plan my own shoots by the weather, but if it rains, it rains,” she says. “As a photographer, one has to be prepared for the unexpected.”

Given that Signesdottir finds her inspiration from her models, she chooses them with great care. “They are humans that I wanted to shoot because of who they are, their charisma and their character,” Signesdottir tells me. “The rest I always leave up to the unexpected.” Much like her previous work, the images portray a sense of drama, rendered in the blacks and reds characteristic of Nordic autumn. When asked what photography means to her, Signesdottir answers without hesitation: it is what she loves doing the most. “Photography gives life meaning and it’s my imprint and contribution to the world,” she says. “Art is a reaction to living, it’s as simple as that.”

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