Foto: Hans H. Lie / Maihaugen
At the photographer
15 February–15 November
Meet the people who lived in Nord-Gudbrandsdalen over hundred years ago. Who were they, really?
At the Photographer
H. H. LIE (1867–1918)
– Portraits of Lives
The exhibition “At the Photographer” presents, for the first time, a selection of portraits photographed by Hans H. Lie between 1896 and 1918.
Lie had three studios: in Vinstra, Otta, and Ringebu. He photographed all kinds of people — young and old, rich and poor, locals and travelers.
He captured not only their faces, but details that invite us to reflect on their stories, personalities and place in society. Thanks to Lie’s precise records of his clients, we can identify many of the people in his portraits — yet much remains unknown.
The exhibition creates a meeting between us, living in the present, and all these personalities from the past — people we don’t know, but can still wonder about.
How much do their portraits reveal about who they were? Who might they have been today? Come and explore the faces and stories of those who lived here before us!
Mirror, Mirror
As part of the exhibition, you can experience Mirror, Mirror, a photo installation by visual artist Ragnhild Lie (b. 1966), the great-grandchild of H.H. Lie. In this work, she reinterprets her great-grandfather’s group portraits of young people at the Gudbrandsdalen folk high school (1917–1918) and the local council (1905–1906), in which the photographer himself appears. We are invited to look at these portraits with fresh eyes: instead of searching for identity and lived experience, her images can feel strangely empty – stripped of what we expect to find.
Ragnhild Lie. Foto: Janeke Meyer Utne / Maihaugen
First shown in 2005, the project feels especially relevant today. In an era shaped by AI-generated imagery and digital self-staging, the exhibition raises questions about what a portrait is, what it reveals and where the boundaries of the human lie.
Ragnhild Lie holds an MFA in art from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (1997). Lie has exhibited in Norway and internationally, and lives and works in Stamsund, Lofoten.
