Textures of Longyearbyen

Over the last month, I've been collecting photos to try and capture some of my textural memories of living in Svalbard.  I have a lot of sweeping landscape photos, some decent wildlife shots and the occasional photo with friends.  But there is something missing in these big photos, which is a thing I actually spend a very large portion of my silent, internal time thinking about.  I like the way things feel and the way that they look like they feel.  The colors and the moods they impart, and the contact of different materials on one another: this is my real daily life, everywhere I go.  The patterns in surfaces that change depending on the lighting, the surprise of a pretty color on an ugly thing like a dumpster.  These are things that enter my dreams, and they have enough power to bother or delight me depending on whether I find their balance satisfying or not.  They are also the things that can bring a place back to my memory most strongly.  I might have a photo of the most beautiful view of the landscape, but it is always much smaller, more specific textural elements that can reintroduce my body to the memory of being there.  I won't know exactly what my memories of Svalbard will be until I leave and have to recall them, but I imagine that they will be things like the way the worn wood floor of our apartment feels through the cushioning layer of my house shoes, or the squeak of the wheels on the rusted old speedracks at work.  The obnoxious sound of snow-scooters.  Crunching snow.  The lichen and moss and reindeer skins.  All those fantastic Norwegian knit sweaters!  On babies in the crowded coffee shop full of wood chairs that knock into each other like sets of bulky building blocks.  I decided to try to collect a few of the specific impressions I could, things that I passed on my way to work or walking through town which I noticed and which made me feel that I like it here.  I want even more things in this collection that are impossible to capture: the creamy-white backs of the beluga whales that I spotted from our window the other day!  But this is a start.  Spring in the arctic, 2014.

Snow on tundra: Bjørndalen.

Rocks, ice and salt: Sjøområdet.

Shadows, mountains, moon.

Water, shadows, winter plumage (black guillemot; teist).

Rocks, ice.

Caitlin this one is for you!

Rocks/coal, plumage (Svalbard rock ptarmigan; svalbardrype), snow.

Flaking paint, rust, cargo straps.

Flaking paint, rust, snow.

Paint and rust (detail).

Paint and rust (detail).

Paint, rust, tire treads (detail).

Wood, antlers: Maryanns Polarrigg

Water, shadows, plumage (king eider; praktærfugl).

Corrugated steel, rust, snow: Gruve 2.

Weathered wood, coal: Gruve 2.

Weathered wood: Gruve 2.

Rocks, lichen, snow: Gruve 2.

Midnight sun through the curtains.

Ice, grit, and plastic netting.

Iron, salt and snow: steel plate

Icicles at sunset.

Icicles at sunset.

Wooden poles, ice, rocks, water, sunset.

Flaking paint, rusty chain, snow.

Corrugated siding, shadows, sunset.

Shipping pallets.

Snowplow blade.

Weathered wood, shadows, sunset: Svalbard Seilforening.

Weathered wood, rusty nails: Sjøområdet.

Half-pipe.

Ski trails.

Skooter tracks.

Skooter highway: aerial view from the footbridge.

Coal dust and dirt on canvas.

Meltwater stippling the snow on our front doorstep (another wooden shipping pallet).

Reindeer skins hanging to dry.

Asphalt siding on a ski-hut.

Antique track vehicle (rear view).

Antique track vehicle (front view).

Flaking paint and door handle: LNS Building.

Painted cement: Bakehuset.

Paint on brick: Bakehuset.

Bread, oats, stainless steel: Bakehuset, kl 6,00.

Bread (underside): Bakehuset, kl 6,00.

Flaking paint, cement, linoleum, grit: kjøleskap, Bakehuset.

Baked-on grease: Bakehuset

Baguette pans: Bakehuset.

Cake plates, shadows: Bakehuset.

Steam and grease on painted particle-board: ceiling, Bakehuset.

Grease, seeds, steel: bread plate, Bakehuset.

Snow on glass: Bakehuset.

Ice on glass: Bakehuset.

Ice pick, uniform: Bakehuset.

Stainless steel countertop: Bakehuset.

Chipped paint and grease stains: fryer, Bakehuset.

Green crate and shadows: Bakehuset.

Kurbadetbrød packaging, Bakehuset.

Button on the suede break couch: Bakehuset.

Granite and neon lighting: breakroom, Bakehuset.

Inside the office, outside the office: dirt, wood, and linoleum, Bakehuset.

Apron, pants: Bakehuset.

Meltwater flowing under a thin layer of ice.

Worn wood ceiling: Sjøområdet.

Cotton thread and polyester ripstop fabric: winter wardrobe.