Portraits

Helge Ellingsen in his bass shop surrounded by upright basses, holding one and playing.

Helge Ellingsen Oslo Norway, March 2026

A stone's throw from Grünerløkka, where retail rent is 10X, you find Helge's little shop. All 35 square meters of it. It's been there for 20 years. Inside is all bass. Uprights and electrical. No amps, no guitars, no drumsticks. Just bass, used and new, and repairs.

Marius Andersen sitting in an old, wooden chair wearing traditional Norwegian bunad in a country style decorated room.

Marius Andersen Sandefjord Norway, May 2025

Marius is an elementary school teacher who once looked up at the weather and then took a chainsaw to the roof of his own home. He then proceeded to add two more floors to it by the end of summer. Once that was done he sold the house and moved to a place that would give him even more work. He's a big fisted guy, but the human heart is as big as the fist of the owner. His sure is. Some years ago he became the figurehead of a protest against new public management in elementary schools in Sandefjord. It damn near cost him his career, but he and his supporters won and dethroned the local board of education. For this act he received the Zola award for civil courage. Then he went back to teaching kids and fixing houses.