These photos are part of Sturlason Press Bureau’s archive. At the time of the discovery (2010), the archive had been stored in an Oslo-basement for 35 years. Untouched.
The press bureau is an important part in photographer Sturlason’s 85 year long history. Sturlason AS Polyfoto has through three generations photographed culture, private events, public happenings and royal affairs from it’s studio in Oslo.
The press bureau cooperated with foreign press bureaus, and had an exchange-agreement, where Sturlason sent Norwegian photos abroad, and received photos from other countries in return. When the press bureau was discontinued in the early 1970s, the archive was moved to the basement.
We were overwhelmed when we realised the quality and the scope of the archive, which through all the years of storage had gained historical value.
This presents us, who have access to this cultural treasure, to a mission: We must, in different ways, present the content, and make it available for posterity. That is not a small task! One of our main challenges – besides just cataloguing millions of photos – is to credit the photographers. On the photos’ back we may read who, what, when and where – but the photographer’s name appear on very few of the photos.
In 2010 the Sturlason archive was recognised as a cultural treasure, and thanks to financial support from Fritt Ord and Art Council Norway the archive was moved to Riksarkivet, The National Archives of Norway.
Please bear in mind, that these are press photos, often captured in a hurry, under conditions where the photographer rarely has been able to compose the motive. These photos represent skilled craftsmanship, without photoshopping afterwards. We want the photos to appear as true originals, we have not retouched them, only removed dirt and scratches.
I hope you will enjoy it!
Gabriele Sturlason
Polyfoto Vintage
It seems like you already have a user. Please type in your password and log in.