Olaf Christoffersen (1899–1984) Norwegian engineer & photographer — Oslo, Norway Website: olafchristoffersen.com Instagram: @olafchristoffersen_com Short bio Self-taught photographer whose work charts Oslo’s transition from pictorialism to modernism between the wars. Trained as a hydropower engineer, he worked at Kværner Brug from the age of 15 until his retirement in 1969, balancing a lifelong technical career with an ambitious photographic practice. Influenced early by music and French painting, he developed a pictorialist style marked by subtle light and shadow, later evolving toward modernist clarity and structure. Celebrated for both technical precision and emotional depth, he held a valued place among the leading voices of interwar photography in Norway. Artistic Focus & Techniques Christoffersen’s work spanned urban street life, Oslo’s harbour and industrial zones, rural Asker, and portraits of working people. His hallmark became the disciplined use of light as a structural element — shaping both atmosphere and form. In the darkroom he mastered demanding processes such as gum bichromate and bromoil, later gelatin silver, always pursuing tonal nuance and clarity of vision. Memberships & Roles A central figure in Oslo Kamera Klubb (OKK) from 1924 to 1939. Served as treasurer (1927–30), during which the club launched the demanding “Remfeldt competitions,” and later vice chair (1934). Contributed actively to OKK exhibitions and competitions, including the 25-Year Photo Cavalcade in 1946. Awards & Exhibitions Christoffersen’s photographs achieved broad recognition at home and abroad. In 1927 he was awarded the Silver Medal at the International Artistic Photography Exhibition in Budapest, where Oslo Kamera Klubb participated as a delegation. His works were also accepted at Fredrikstad Fotoklubb’s national salons (1927, 1929) and at the 2nd International Photographic Salon in Stockholm (1928). Between 1928 and 1930 his prints circulated widely across Europe and the USA, shown at the Royal Photographic Society (London), London Salon of Photography, The Camera Club of New York, Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.), Photo Pictorialists of Milwaukee (Milwaukee Art Institute), Chicago Camera Club, and the Irish Salon of Photography (Dublin Civic Week). One of his most recognised works, Vinteraften (Oslo Harbour), was repeatedly exhibited abroad and drew comparisons to Josef Sudek’s poetic visions of Prague. Later Recognition & Legacy In 2006 Preus Museum foregrounded his work in the exhibition Bylandskap (Cityscapes), situating him within a European pictorialist tradition of urban vision. His biography and two works are also published in Art or Kitsch? Pictorialism in the Preus Museum Collection. In 2025, the National Museum of Norway signalled interest in acquiring his work, highlighting Christoffersen’s distinct role in bridging pictorialism and modernism. At that time no suitable vintage prints were available for purchase. His oeuvre is today preserved and catalogued in collaboration with Preus Museum. The archive is curated by his grandson, Øystein Wasteson, who continues the work of digitisation, research, and exhibition development. Collections Preus Museum (Norway’s National Museum of Photography): vintage prints, documentation, and digitised family archive. Rights & archive contact: Øystein Wasteson — [email protected] | +45 22409080 Øystein Wasteson (1966) – curator/project lead Curator working with photography, with a background in data analytics/CRM. Since 2007 he has managed and developed his grandfather Olaf Christoffersen’s photographic archive in collaboration with Preus Museum (digitisation, cataloguing, publishing and contextual writing). He builds concise selections that situate Christoffersen within the shift from pictorialism to modernism and in relation to Oslo as motif. The work grows from a long family connection to art and craft: his great-grandfather Walfrid Wasteson founded Blomqvist Kunsthandel in Oslo, later continued by his son Thorleif. This heritage underpins an effort to bring Christoffersen’s photography to new audiences and to secure his place in Norwegian photographic history.