November 2012

NEWSLETTERFREDRIK NAUMANNPHOTOGRAPHER

Felix Features is a picture agency run by Fredrik Naumann and Marianne Alfsen.

Our main focus is photo documentaries and a quality archive. Apart from what we produce ourselves, we rely on pictures supplied by photographers we can safely call some of the world's best.

We co operate with three well known agencies: Panos Pictures, Noor and Redux.

The examples you see on this page are mostly from our partners, while the rest is material produced by Fredrik.

When we started Felix Features in 2005, there was great interest in photojournalism. As you may know, the last few years has not been so good for Norwegian media and photojournalism. For traditional media it is still going downhill, but for those of us who produce visual content, I think 2012 may be a turning point.

Because, while many newspapers have chosen to lower their standards, others have discovered "visual storytelling". Technological development has given us many new - and cheaper - ways of telling a story with images.

Companies and NGOs have realised that not only do they need to be online and in social media, they need great content to get their message across.

When a virtual tsunami of images floods the web, snapshots and shaky videos simply do not cut it.

You need to call the professionals.

Following a few years of gloomy predictions about the future, something has changed.

"Photographers will soon be the most valuable people in the newsroom" is a recent title in Businessinsider.com

Think what you will about the Coca-Cola Co., but they know a thing or two about advertising and communication. Tellingly, their new website is like a magazine, complete with features, videos and pictures

in a photojournalistic style. Gone are the perfect advertising pictures with perfect people. Instead there are stories about real people, in their "natural" surroundings.

Text is always important, but check out the statistics for pictures and video online. If you have something to say today, say it visually!

In 2012 I've had many interesting assignments for clients who have realised the importance of good quality photography.

It will be exciting to see who else will discover the power of photojournalism in the near future.

Ready to photograph in a raging river. Still camera in a waterproof housing and a small video camera mounted on the helmet.

"Content is king"Bill Gates 1996

Norwegian Air Ambulance revamped their members magazine this year. The visual aspect has been strengthened and I have been fortunate to contribute throughout 2012.

There are many limitations to photographing health services. The biggest obstacle is not being allowed on actual missions )despite the fact that media can cover many of the same incidents on the scene(. So, the pictures must actually be taken on training missions or as the crew depart or arrive at their base.

These are challenging assignments. Not only is it a shaky, tight squeeze in a helicopter – usually time is very limited and I might only get one chance to get the picture. Sometimes I have to stand in a raging river or abseil down a cliff face. However, these are amongst my favourite assignments!

HEALTH ANGELS

En redningsmann fra Norsk Luftambulanse hopper i vannet under en øvelse ved Camp Torpomoen, nær Ål.

A rescue paramedic jumps into the water during a training mission with the Norwegian Air Ambulance.

The 22 July Commission's final report about last year's terror attack revealed many shortcomings on the part of the authorities. Having covered the aftermath of the bombing in Oslo, and then seen government's top people wash their hands, it felt good to see our pictures behind the leader of the Commission, Alexandra Bech Gjørv, as she scolded the government for its failures.

Felix Features contributed 13 pictures to the report.

This year we also took over the distribution rights for the footage of the infamous police boat nearly sinking on its way to stop the terrorist. We have also photographed some of the victims and documented various sides of the recovery process.

JULY 22

Heikki Holmås for Norwegian Refugee Council's magazine Perspective 2012

Bård Vegar Solhjell for Estate Magazine 2012

Jonas Gahr Størefor Politiken newspaper )DK(2012

PORTRAITS

Three Norwegian ministers

GAZA: Four year old Arij playing with an Israeli gas mask she has found. The picture is from the archive, photographed in 2003, but sadly could well have been taken just recently.

Yassir Arafatfor Dagbladet 2001

SEARCH:Our archive now contains almost 200.000 pictures.

UK charity "Walking with the wounded" aims to help wounded soldiers. A group will be raising money and awareness by walking to the South Pole, including three soldiers that were seriously wounded in Afghanistan. But before setting off, they came to Finse, Norway, to familiarize themselves with the equipment and climate.

Photographed for the Sunday Times.

In addition to running the picture agency with me, my partner Marianne has set up the sister company Felix Media, offering editorial communication services to NGOs and governmental institutions.Felix Media secured the contract to make the 40th anniversary magazine for the Ministry of the Environment.

And I got the job to got to Røst in Northern Norway. Spending a few days there with journalist Ruth Astrid Sæter, learning about the fishing community, the environment and the proposed oil drilling.

The end result was a story where the readers got to meet some of the people at Røst and learn about their challenges.

The Ministry of the Environment probably reached more readers than if they were to present the same information in a more bureaucratic style.

I also made a video from Røst, linked with a QR-code from the magazine so people could watch it directly on their mobile devices.

A VOICE FROM RØST

2012 was the year video really took off on the internet. In the past, few of our clients have shown interest in video. However, better bandwidth and video compression, smart phones and tablets have changed this.

This year I made four videos for Norwegian Air Ambulance and three videos for the Ministry of the Environment, as well as single videos for other clients.

VIDEO

We were quite overdue to redesign our logo. Pondering what visual direction to go we got help from graphic designer Anna Maria Pirolt.

We decided on a retro look which originates from our love of art deco design. We also decided to allow for a personal touch, with wings eluding to my own interest in aviation photography.

Art Deco " is an influential visual arts design style which first appeared in France during the 1920s, flourished internationally during the 30s and 40s", as Wikipedia puts it. 

Incidentally this is also the time period we associate with the birth of what is today called "classic photojournalism".

Felix Features is indeed a picture agency founded on classic photojournalism, we represent many great photographers who see

themselves - and photograph - in the light of that

tradition. In a world overflowing

with hype, -grams,filters and fakes, we do not mind standing firm with some old school photojournalism. And a retro logo.

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fredrik@felixfeatures.comtel: + 47 90 88 52 89

marianne@felixfeatues.comtel: + 47 92 02 56 73

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