About me

About Kenneth Gjesdal

I am a photographer based in Moi in southwest Norway, primarily working with female models in portrait, art nude and related photographic genres.

My photography often takes me beyond the studio. I enjoy working outdoors and using real locations as part of the photographs, whether that means the Norwegian landscape, an urban environment, an abandoned building or somewhere encountered while travelling.

Over the years I have photographed models in Norway and several other countries, with Latvia in particular becoming an important part of my photographic work.

How It Started

Photography began for me in 1985 when I was an exchange student in the United States.

I bought my first proper camera and took a photography class at Watertown High School in New York. Much of the fascination came from working in the darkroom, where I experimented with printing and different photographic techniques.

After returning home, I continued photographing for a few years and even borrowed equipment so I could turn my bedroom into a temporary darkroom.

Eventually, the cost of film photography made me slow down considerably, and photography became a much smaller part of my life for a number of years.

That changed in 2009 when I bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D60. I gradually upgraded my equipment and began photographing more seriously again.

There was one subject I generally avoided: people.

From Avoiding People to Photographing Models

That changed in June 2013 when I was asked to photograph a dance performance for a local newspaper.

Photographing the performers made me realise that working with people was exactly the direction I wanted to take.

I decided that I needed experience quickly rather than slowly trying to figure everything out on my own. I found a Fashion & Body Photography workshop in Riga, Latvia, and two months later I was on a plane.

That trip became the beginning of the part of my photographic journey that continues today.

Since then I have worked with many skilled models, both in Norway and while travelling. Their ability to pose, interpret an idea and adapt to a location is a central part of the photographs we create together.

Art Nude and Location Photography

A significant part of my work is art nude photography.

I am particularly interested in photographs where the model and the location work together rather than the surroundings simply functioning as a background.

Norway naturally plays an important role in this. Rivers, rocks, forests, waterfalls and the changing Scandinavian landscape can create very different photographs from those made in a conventional studio.

One example is my work with Indian model Nikita Gokhale, photographed in 2018 at Drangsdalen, Gloppedalsura and Månafossen in southwest Norway.

That series is now available as the hardcover photography book Nikita Gokhale: Nude in Norway, as well as individual photographic sets and behind-the-scenes material.

Photography Books

I have published a number of photography books over the years, including paperback and ebook editions featuring models I have worked with in Norway and abroad.

Many of the earlier editions were distributed through Amazon and are no longer available there. I am gradually revisiting some of those projects and intend to make more of my previous books available again in one form or another.

At the same time, I am continuing to work on new photography books and new editions of earlier projects.

The exact format and distribution will vary between releases, so individual books will be added to the website as they become available.

Lumenira

I also share a substantial selection of my safe-for-work photography on Lumenira.

This includes portraits, travel photography, monochrome work and other images that are suitable for a broader audience. It is a useful place to see a wider cross-section of my photography without the adult-oriented material found in some of my other collections.

Portrait of Mira from one of my trips to Riga in 2015 — A Direct Look from Mira by Gjesdal on Lumenira

Lumenira focuses on photography rather than general social media content, so I use it as one of the main places for sharing individual photographs and ongoing work.

Nikita Gokhale: Nude in Norway

Photographed entirely in southwest Norway, the book brings together my 2018 work with Nikita Gokhale at three distinctly Norwegian locations.

The current edition is a hardcover colour photography book and is also available as a PDF edition.

View Nikita Gokhale: Nude in Norway

Photo Sets and Video

A much larger selection of my photography is available through BentBox.

There you can find complete photographic sets featuring models I have worked with over the years, including both colour and black-and-white collections. Some projects also include behind-the-scenes or other video material.

The sets let me publish far more photographs from a shoot than would normally appear on a conventional portfolio or social media account.