Norwegian artist Torbjørn Rødland talks us through the April/May Elsa Hosk cover shoot

“She’s attentive and serious about the task at hand,” artist Torbjørn Rødland told Vogue Scandinavia when asked what Hosk was like as a subject. He explained that she was the first person on set, ahead of himself and his crew. “None of this, ‘hanging out and seeing what happens’ attitude.”

The famed Norwegian artist has work hanging in just about every esteemed gallery and museum across the globe, so securing him for this job was important and unique for Vogue Scandinavia. Instead of a fashion shoot, we created a photographic art series shot at a house in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. We gave Rødland complete freedom over the project, and it was an intimate shoot between him, Elsa and her family. The artist embraced the “unpredictability” of baby Tuuli, who just wanted to “crawl away and explore the garden,” while producing images that express his mastery of evoking intimate moments and emotional messages.

Related: Elsa Hosk and her family bare it all for Vogue Scandinavia

Here he walks us through the series from the day's most challenging pose to the photography techniques he employed.

“To keep infants from wriggling and crawling off, it often works to throw them something they’re unfamiliar with.”

“One of the drawn sketches I brought to the first location had Elsa in a tilted chair. I found this red piece and balanced it on a yoga ball. For Elsa, it was probably the day’s most challenging scene.”

“The session’s last image uses the day’s last light coming through the living room window. I added a sword to activate the dress’ Viking warrior potential.”

"Tuuli should also have her eye contact moment. The child looks ungendered and free."

"The roof of my Franklin Hills garage becomes a stage. I chose the double-belted long coat look for its pirate fantasy undertone."

"I worked with three different photographic formats that day. This is done on film with a so-called view camera on a tripod –Milk is heavy, air is light."

"This is the first image we did, while waiting for the sun to move into place for the umbrella-scene. I chose the outfit to contrast the pool colours."