Following in the footsteps of Pytheas, who sailed from Marseille to Thule 2,300 years ago, I came to photograph Halsnøy. I was struck dumb by these gigantic rocks on Strondavegen; they embody the very definition of the picturesque: that which deserves to be represented.

Which I did with my favorite instrument: the 4x5’’ view camera. In the manner of the 19th century photographers who positioned their assistant to give the scale of the subject, I threw myself into the image.

I had a very large print made, to which I added views of the negative, inverted images as they appear when taken on the ground glass, and also views evoking the distant journey of Pytheas, which I had also accomplished to return from the dead following a long illness.