loving weather femund, norway
places | north by michael barton
These pictures were taken just before and just after New Year 2009. They start out en-route to Anne’s cabin at Femund, which is located in the centre-south of Norway,on the very large lake of Fe- munden. The cabin is on a tiny peninsula of land on the northeast side, and is accessible by boat in the summer and by skiing in the winter. This area is remote and one of the least populated areas in Norway, or indeed Europe. The light here has many moods, and weather can change suddenly and dramatically. Norwegians are very fond of being in nature and many have cabins in the mountains or on the coast, or ‘away’ somewhere. There is a dualistic quality to this, as in town-country, urban-rural, summer-winter, light-dark, in-out. The cabin has the quality of both prospect and refuge, experienced simultaneously. One is your view of the outside natural world, and the other is shelter from the storm, just outside the window. There’s a special quality to all of this when the candles are lit in the window and seen against the fading light of the landscape outside. The glow of red-orange and subtle reflections from varnished wood and other surfaces is a pleasure in the short day (about four hours), when the colour outside is often lavender-purple. * right, top to bottom: Heading out. New Year’s eve at Femund. Across the lake (with dog) to the cabin. Sun sets on 2008 at 2:30pm New Year’s day 2009. Anne with the dog, and a storm coming in. The storm in progress. Outside the cabin as night draws near. below: View from the farmer’s window, with festive overtones. The farm is about 4km away as the crow flies.
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On Site review 21: stormy weather
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