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Perspektivet Museum is putting on the exhibition \u201dEllisif Wessel \u2013 You ask for my photograph,\u201d a travelling exhibition from the publishing firm Orkana. This exhibition is one of two that is being held in conjunction with S\u00e1mi Week 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo pioneer, trade union activist, newspaper debater, author and communist Ellisif Wessel (1866-1949) documented a Finnmark in change through the lens of her camera. Finnmark around the turn of the 20th century was in a turmoil of change and experienced a clash of cultures \u2013 a meeting of five tribes. The photographs were taken throughout a life full of contrasts across a boundless landscape. Her photos are a unique source for getting acquainted with the Finnmark that disappeared when Germany put into effect its \u201dscorched earth policy\u201d during World War II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ellisif Wessel got involved in people\u2019s living conditions in Finnmark, and became known for her significant political and social commitment. She accompanied her husband on his journeys as a doctor, and was a skilled photographer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These pictures are from the S\u00f8r-Varanger Museum\u2019s photo collection. Ellisif Wessel left between 600 and 700 motifs. Her glass panel collection was destroyed when Kirkenes was bombed; but thanks to her having sent photo albums to friends and family throughout the country, quite a few motifs have been preserved and copied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A book has also been published with the same title in the same project. The exhibition contains 35 motifs in large format, and the book contains around another 220.<\/p>\n\n\n
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