– They have diligently documented their lives for several generations back, says Øivind Møller Bakken, photographer and photo archivist in De kongelige samlinger. While Crown Princess Sonja took a photo of Prince Haakon Magnus who toured the Royal Ship… Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court …King Olav took a photo of the photo session. Photo: King Olav / Private/Det kongelige hoff He walks around among photos from what he refers to as the royal family’s photo treasure. A smiling father, then Crown Prince Harald, holding his son close to him on his arm, immortalized by grandfather King Olav. The picture was taken at Tjøme in 1974, the year after the little heir to the throne, who is now Crown Prince Haakon, was born. The little Prince Haakon Magnus touring the deck of the Royal Ship, while his mother, then Crown Princess Sonja, takes pictures of him. The picture of the newborn Prince Harald, just a few days old, in 1937. The little boy who is now King of Norway. Her mother, Crown Princess Märtha, was behind the camera at the time. Ordinary situations with “unusual” photographers. This is one of the first photos taken of little Prince Harald in February 1937. Photo: Crown Princess Märtha / Privat/Det kongelige hoff Family and holidays – They mainly took pictures of family situations, holidays and travels. And dogs, of course. Photos that we all take, says Øivind Møller Bakken. – You often document memories and things you would like to have with you later in life. So everyone who has a family album at home will be able to recognize themselves. Now pictures from the royal family’s private photo album will be exhibited in the Queen Sonja Kunststall. The exhibition “Royal photographers – snapshots from 1890 to 1990” opens this week. Photo archivist and curator Øivind Møller Bakken praises the value of the enormous, royal photo archive. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news This is what King Harald is like as a photographer The photo archivist shows us around the Kunststallen while backdrops are carved and pictures are hung. He points to one of the pictures on the wall. – This is a beautiful picture. It is then Crown Princess Sonja with Princess Märtha on her lap. The king, then Crown Prince Harald, took it from them in Lærdal. It’s close, a lovely picture, says Bakken. The picture that King Harald has taken of his wife and daughter is one of the few pictures that he has taken: The picture of the then Crown Princess Sonja with Princess Märtha Louise on her lap was taken by King Harald – then Crown Prince Harald – in 1975. Now it is extracted from the private photo album and hung on the wall in Dronning Sonja’s art stable in Oslo and is part of the exhibition. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news – What distinguishes King Harald as a photographer? – First of all, that he has taken very few pictures, as far as we know. But the pictures he has taken have been of the family. So he is a family-oriented person as a photographer at least, says Bakken. 400,000 photos The photos now on display are the royal family’s own photos, taken by themselves. There are pictures from a time before everyone had a camera available on their mobile phone all the time. Photos taken with cameras with film rolls with a limited number of images. Pictures of a royal family in casual clothes at the lake, at the cabin and on a ski trip: Crown Prince Harald and Prince Haakon Magnus in Jeppedalen in 1977. Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court King Olav, Crown Princess Sonja and Crown Prince Harald at King Olav’s summer residence Bloksberg at Hankø in 1980. Photo: Crown Prince Haakon / Private/The Royal Court Prince Haakon, Crown Prince Harald and King Olav on a ski trip in Sikkilsdalen in 1977. Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court Norway’s most photographed family are also keen photographers themselves. According to Bakken, the royal photo archive to which the curator was given access when the exhibition was to be created contains around 400,000 images. – It is absolutely fantastic. To get the royal family’s own view of their everyday life is absolutely fantastic, he says. – What is the historical value in the royal family taking photos themselves and now also sharing them? – Both back in time and in the future, I am sure that the material will help tell the story of the royal family and the monarchy in Norway. So there is great value, says Bakken. Among the many image motifs is also the heir to the throne who will one day carry the monarchy on, who was once a little prince wearing a sun hat on holiday, and who crawled around on the floor with children’s TV characters: Princess Märtha Louise and Prince Haakon Magnus, Berget i 1975. Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court Prince Haakon Magnus greets Titten Tei at Skaugum in 1978. Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court Prince Haakon Magnus photographed on his christening day, 20 September 1973, at the Castle. Photo: Queen Sonja / Private/The Royal Court – Important for the nation’s memory Right from the first Norwegian royal family in modern times, with King Haakon and Queen Maud, royalty themselves have immortalized both work and everyday life. They have documented everyday life and family life, but also assignments and representation for the royal house, meetings with people and historical events. Scroll over to see all the royal photographers in action: Prince Harald with a Leica IIIf, photographed at Easter 1955 in Sikkilsdalen. The picture of the then Crown Princess Sonja taking pictures in Mexico in 1968 with a Sankyo Super CM-800 film camera hangs like a part of the exhibition in the Queen Sonja Kunststall. King Olav takes pictures with his own camera during an official trip to Germany in 1973. King Olav photographs with a Rollei 35. In the background Federal President Gustav Walter Heinemann and to the right Prime Minister Helmut Kohl. Crown Princess Märtha films during the visit to the Norwegian base Norwegian Army Camp Dumfries in Scotland on 24 August 1942. King Haakon with a Folding Pocket Kodak camera, Voksenkollen, June 1908. Princess Maud, who later became Queen Maud of Norway, with a Kodak No. 4 camera in Sandringham in 1894/95. According to Bakken, it is the women in the royal family in particular who have been responsible for the majority of the images in the royal photo archive. Both Queen Maud, Crown Princess Märtha and not least Queen Sonja have been keen photographers. Together with the Norwegian kings and heirs to the throne, they have documented Norwegian history and everyday life. Øivind Møller Bakken has had access to a royal photo archive of around 400,000 images ahead of the exhibition. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news Queen Maud, originally a British princess, brought both interest and knowledge from the photo-interested royal family in England to Norway. Crown Princess Märtha’s photos from the years during the Second World War have become historical documentation. Queen Sonja, the “esthetician” who, according to Bakken, has taken 100-150 rolls of photos a year. While King Olav, who with his direct photography style “shot from the hip” and “took pictures of the strangest things he experienced on his travels”, according to Bakken. – After all, all the material has been part of the history writing around the royal family. So this has great value also for the nation’s memory, he says. This Leica III camera originally belonged to Crown Princess Märtha. It was with this camera that she took, among other things, the newborn photo of little Prince Harald, which you see further up in the article. Photo: Torstein Georg Bøe / news
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Now the royal family shares private photos – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
