Hilde Honerud → GYM

Honerud’s work is in the tradition of a journalistic. During the years 2018-2020, Honerud carried out a major work associated with the refugee camp Moria Camp, on the island of Lesvos in Greece, where she joined people doing sports through the organization Yoga and Sports with Refugees (YSR).

Honerud works closely with the people she photographs – over weeks, months and sometimes years – and she considers it necessary to try and achieve what she believes is most necessary: to convey
the experience and reality of the person being photographed. Honerud refers to Jon Berger’s essay Uses of Photography (1978) regarding her approach to this philosophy:
«For the photographer this means thinking of her or himself not so much as a reporter to the rest of the world but rather, as a recorder for those involved in the events photographed. The distinction is crucial.”
Honerud’s work is in the tradition of a journalistic and documentary approach, but her motifs are far from the classical disaster photography. In a time where images are everywhere, and catastrophic events are commonplace, there is need for questioning, she asks: how can we communicate these
serious incidents through images? Honerud uses a formal approach, often in close collaboration with those recorded. The documentary style images are interspersed with images that are clearly manipulated. The publication includes introductions from Susanne Østby Sæther and Estelle Jean,
founder of YSR.

Moria Camp was notorious for being Europe’s worst refugee camp and housed somewhere between 6000 – 21000 people depending on the influx. The camp was originally dimensioned for 3000 people.
In September 2020 it burned down, and a new camp was built on Lesvos.Unfortunately, this is no better than the first. The situation in the Mediterranean as of May 2021 still severe. Refugees are still being treated in inhumane ways and Europe continues to violate basic human rights as the right to
apply for asylum.

YSR is a non-profit organization that use sports as way to help refugees find dignity and meaning, and the mental and physical strength required to carry out the monotony, frustration and stagnation under
the conditions they are exposed to and currently live in.

GYM is generously supported by Norwegian Visual Artists Fund, The Fritt Ord Foundation, TheNorwegian Photographic Fund, The Bergesen Foundation, Art Council Norway, USN School of Business, and Kongsberg Municipality.