Radius 500 Metres is a photobook made from the archives of Åsmund Abusdal, told by his grandson Terje Abusdal. Portrayed through a series of personal photos from the Setesdal Valley, the book offers glimpses of everyday life in rural Norway in the 1970s and 80s. A time before wealth of the oil industry transformed the country and way of life forever. In that way, Radius 500 Metres is a visual testimony from a period that marked the end for the post-war social democratic welfare model and the shift to neoliberalism.
The photographs are spontaneous – wonderful examples of the snapshot-aesthetics that had its golden age around the same time these were taken. They are unintended historical documents and Norwegian contributions to a glorious era of colour photography.
Åsmund Abusdal was a self-proclaimed journalist and photographer. Many of the pictures, accompanied by stories he wrote, were published in the local newspaper, Setesdølen.
71 color images • Text by Terje Abusdal • English edit: Melissa Larner, Alana Holmberg • Norwegian edit: Jon-Edvard Uleberg • Design and editing: Gösta Flemming, Terje Abusdal • Hard cover • 150 x 210 mm • 96 pages • English/Norwegian • 2015
Selected in Photo-eye's annual survey Best Books 2015.
Selected for The Photobook Exhibition, Athens Photo Festival 2016, Greece.
Selected for the exhibition Have Book will Travel, Fotofestiwal 2016, Poland.
