Interview
Geir Kogstad
Geir Kogstad is a Norwegian fine art photographer exploring death, despair, and fragile beauty. He places the nude form in ruins, empty landscapes, and fractured spaces, capturing silence, shadow, and the haunting traces of what is lost, forgotten, or left behind.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I began my journey as a photographer in Los Angeles in 1981, working alone and exploring the city and its outskirts with a camera. From the start, I was drawn to what others overlook—ruins, desolate landscapes, and the human form in vulnerable or unexpected contexts. Photography became a way to capture what lingers in silence and decay, and to confront beauty in its most fragile, transient state.”
What inspires you?
“I am inspired by the tension between presence and absence, life and decay. My work finds poetry in misplacement, in abandoned spaces, and in the raw vulnerability of the human body. Themes of death, despair, and impermanence are central, as is the search for fragile beauty in places it should not exist.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My work revolves around misplacement, decay, and fragility. By placing subjects—often nude forms—within ruins, empty landscapes, or fractured spaces, I explore vulnerability, loss, and memory. There is an underlying meditation on death, despair, and the delicate balance between beauty and what is forgotten.”
How would you describe your work?
“I create fine art photography that is stark, haunting, and deliberate. My images transform shadows, silence, and decay into visual narratives, capturing what lingers in spaces most ignore. Each photograph is a careful dialogue between the environment and the human form, revealing dissonance, vulnerability, and quiet resilience.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I am influenced by artists who confront mortality and the overlooked aspects of existence, finding poetry in imperfection, decay, and absence. Documentary and classical photography, as well as fine art traditions, inform my vision.”
“In a world of oil and paintings where all artists look the same, I try to stand out with art your eyes never have seen.”
What is your creative process like?
“My creative process is both methodical and intuitive. I explore environments extensively, observing how light, shadow, and atmosphere shape a scene. The work evolves as a negotiation between what is staged and what reveals itself naturally, allowing tension and chance to guide the composition.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“I see the role of the artist as a witness to the unnoticed, a preserver of memory, and a translator of fragile truths. In a fast-moving world, the artist reminds society of vulnerability, impermanence, and the subtle beauty that persists in decay and silence.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Though I have primarily focused on building my body of work rather than frequent exhibitions, my collections of ruins, landscapes, and displaced human forms have been presented in select galleries and private showings, each attempt giving voice to spaces and bodies that might otherwise go unseen.”
Website: www.kogstad.no
