132 people, God knows how many countries around the world and a great deal of dedication, are what constitutes Rear View Window, the latest project by celebrated photographer Pål Hansen.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced most of us to self-isolate at home and yet by looking at Pål’s photographs, shot remotely from his London apartment, one has almost the feeling of roaming from one room to another of the same global house. Possibly this is the most significant takeaway from Rear View Window.
Challenged by a common enemy and with our mobility frustrated by world-wide restrictions, we reached out via video conference with colleagues, friends and family to feel connected and closer to one another. Pål’s candid photographs reveal the intimacy of people’s life and what they could see through their windows whilst being in lockdown.
A deeply moving global portrait and a mirror for each one of us.

Photo Meet - As you mention on our previous chat, the pandemic has forced us apart from one another but it has also united us in that our lives are challenged by a common enemy and lockdown measures have been adopted globally. Do you think this experience will help us acquire a better appreciation for the collective or have these restrictions awaken a survival mode and pushed us to be more individualistic?

Pål Hansen - The feeling I got from talking to 132 people from all around the world, is that there is a universal wish and need for more unity. People want a more common experience and want for these conflicts and differences perpetrated by world politics to end. The internet has been the first step in this global movement and I believe that isolation and lockdown has made us look less at international and cultural boarders, and allow for people around the world to become just as important as your neighbour. Suddenly, when you are not able to go and meet up with people around you, people on the other side of the world are just as close to you as people next door. Families whom have been separated by country boarders now call each other more often and talk to each other more. I like to think that when life returns to a more normal existence, we will try to maintain some of these communication skills and allow for your ’neighbour’ across the other side of the world to be just as important for your day to day life as your neighbour next door.

PM - Rear View Window presents a world-wide vast and diverse demographic. You photographed remotely over a hundred households collecting a multitude of stunning portraits and details. Doing this must have been a huge endeavour. Could you please tell us how did you go about reaching out to so many people and how did you manage to negotiate between working on what I imagine being a very demanding personal project, your family duties and your day-to-day commissions?

PH - The ability to reach out and photograph people from all around the world started with great support from my own family and friends. I am lucky to have friends from many places around the world who are generous in helping me by introducing me and my project to their friends and family. My family has also been fortunate to have friends, extended family and contacts all around the world. They were also very generous in helping me reach out to people. The snowball effect then took hold. People enjoyed the experience and offered to introduce me to friends and family of theirs.

The juggling act between home life, home schooling and this project was a tricky one.  My wife was very supportive, and although she works for the NHS (British National Health Service), she helped with home schooling whenever she was able to.  This project allowed me to look outside my own four walls at a time when the walls were closing in on us all. I have several of ambitious projects I want to complete that involve crossing many international boarders. The cost of such projects are often great and such projects are often not realistic when I have a family at home. So in some ways, this project allowed me to travel around the world. It allowed me to be invited into people’s lives in places I have never been. Yes - there is a side of me that will always be uncertain whether I have lost out on a great opportunity to really focus on my own kids. Instead of being distracted at all times with messages trying to arrange zoom calls and get new people involved, I could have given my own kids 100% of my attention. `In some ways I regret not doing this as this chance will never present itself again. But I also believe that this project is what has kept me sane and maintained my own identity and satisfaction. In return, I believe I am a happier and better person to be with which I hope reflects back on my kids.

PM -  Your portraits are candid, emotional and very eloquent. They reveal a profound level of engagement with the people you photographed. Can you tell us more about your approach and what’s your personal takeaway from working on this series?

PH - When I first decided to do this project I thought that the screen would be an obstacle. I always rely on people feeling at ease when I photograph them and I strive to make the experience of being photographed an enjoyable one. I didn’t think that I would be able to connect with people not being there in front of them, shaking hands. However, I soon discovered that people were maybe less guarded when I photograph them using digital conference tools. Maybe it’s because they are at home in their own space, or maybe it’s because I have shrunk from being 195cm tall to 19.5cm tall. I always make a point to make the engagement a personal one too. Every call starts with a nice conversation and exchange of the common experience. I let the conversation flow and avoid being stuck to a script. I then move on to directing them in the space they are in. The images are taken both during conversation and during the tour they give me, the final portrait is composed. In the beginning I was fighting against the digital noise that came from these shoots, but I soon learned to embrace that as a part of the story and aesthetic. It was nice to move away from the perfectness of the digital images that we all produce today with better and better cameras, and focus on the feel of the images instead. I hope that this is something I can incorporate more in my work from now on.

PM - Apart from your brilliant career as a celebrated and sought after portrait photographer working with some of the best editorial and commercial clients, you have under your belt several personal projects such as “Behind Closed Doors” (2009), “Oslo to Utøya - One man’s Journey” (2011), “Windrush - Leave to Remain” and “Under The Arches” (2019), just to name a few. Your dedication to tackle topics ranging from social justice to current events is commendable. Can you anticipate anything about any future endeavour?

PH - Thank you! Yes - I have two ongoing projects that I hope to complete in the next year or two. I can’t go into details of the projects yet but one relies on time to be able to complete and the other means traveling to several of different places to complete. I also have a two more projects that I am looking to start soon. One takes on a similar process to that I used in my Windrush project and the other is more on my doorstep and would allow me to dip into it when I have time.

Pål Hansen W / IG represented by Twenty Twenty