Jon Wang's statement
Kingdom. is a series of 6/7 analog color photographs.
I started shooting my immediate surroundings during Covid lockdown and went on my first road trip holiday in my own country that first summer.
Norway is a monarchy, which to me is a state of illusion. I have always felt kings and queens to be a fairytale concept, alongside wizards and dragons. And in many ways, this concept of being norwegian, of what we agree “Norway” to be, is an imaginary concept.
So I have taken this to heart and attempted to photograph what my norwegianness looks like to me. Some of this is nostalgia – having grown up in a small town I tend to gravitate towards items and architecture that is reminiscent of my childhood. Some of it appeared to my camera on my travels and begged to be photographed.
In sum I hope this to be a documentation of a nation that does not exist, which I hope resonates with both my fellow norwegians but equally to people everywhere that walk around with imaginary nations in their own minds.