Interview with Jói Kjartans
SKOG Intern Jeanne Dos Santos interviews artist Jói Kjartans before the exhibition at Oslo Negativ.
Jói Kjartans, Photo Credit: Helle Frogner
What makes you wanna take pictures?
¨I´m just obsessed with capturing moments¨
Jói feels he has a duty to photograph moments and situations. There is always something magical within every moment. Places, situations and experiences. Jói finds the process of working with analog photography very interesting, and finds the final expression rewarding.
What do you prefer taking pictures of?
¨I rarely seeks out motivs, everything happens naturally. The motivs find me¨.
As a child growing up in Iceland, he found his surroundings and the nature uninteresting. As an adult he has grown a new appreciation to the unique Icelandic nature. Jói had a trip to Iceland where he dedicated his time to appreciating nature and capturing moments.
Jói Kjatans
What do you wish to disseminate?
Jói tells me about the feelings that he experiences.
¨The feeling of being absorbed by nature and a situation¨.
Jói likes to work fast, spontaneous and repetitively, trying to capture as many moments as possible.
The most important part of his expressions is the natural nature of all his pictures. He never cuts or edits pictures. He captures the natural moment, with no exeption.
How do you choose witch pictures to exhibit?
¨First of all, i show the pictures i like the best¨.
For the Exhibition at Oslo Negativ, he uses only the pictures taken from his trip in Iceland. The choice is not easy, but working with artist Jonas Carlsen towards the exhibition has been a giving prosess. They have worked together to find both parallels and contrasts that can enhance their expression.
Jói Kjartans
At last i ask Jói, what do you find challenging with photography?
¨Killing your darlings, is the hardest part¨.
Last but not least, Jói tells me about participating in the next issue of Norwegian Journal of Photography. The issue Nr.7 will be published in February 2026. His participation is about the iclandic mythical beings - Huldufólk.
"It is about the hidden people, the myths and superstitions that have existed in Iceland for centuries"
Jói will show us many more pictures from his trip to Iceland, and the special touch he brings to photography.
Read more about our participation at Oslo Negativ
More on Jói Kjartans here
More on Oslo Negativ
More on the Norwegian Journal of Photoraphy