To me, ”creativity” is primarily a matter of the strictly personal drive of an individual for self-expression. Should the result be something others can also enjoy, that is a positive bonus.

This series of photographs, which I have chosen to call 1416 Anholt and which are collected in this volume, is the result of recent years’ work. To me it is also a narrative with neither beginning nor end. I do not claim to present a true or fair picture, assuming such a thing exists. These photos are a selection of my personal registrations of phenomena and relationships from a place for which I have the greatest of love and respect. Perhaps it is about standing alongisde and considering events present and past, and then selecting the things that appeal to me.

I find it important to make my photographic images directly and instinctively, and not to be overly governed by form or thought.

It seems to me that I took these pictures because I was unable to resist them.

Text: Jäger Arén
Photography: This is an out-take from the book 1416 Anholt by Jäger Arén. First published in Göteborg, 2003.

fælles is an annual pop-up restaurant that we host at Fyrgaarden. Together with friends and family – we cook, eat, drink and dance. Every year is unique in its’ way. We love opening up the house and spending time together with you.

Due to the house’s location, there is no electricity or running water. This requires adapting to the daylight and finding other sources of light when needed.

Guest are typically seated in the south garden between white poplar trees and old pines. The garden is a small miracle. Due to the shelter that the house creates from the northern winds, it has grown big, lush and green over time.

Last year (2021), fælles hosted GRETHES’ first smell session at Fyrgården. Seeing you try and explore our samples in the space that they come from was a fantastic experience.

Photography: Alf
Text: GRETHE

There are people who think that we are approaching a new ice age. Others firmly claim that the Asian crisis is the beginning of the fall of capitalism. There are even those who claim that the insects will one day take over the world.

None of this comes to mind when you lie on the island of Anholt, stranded among the sun-drenched dunes. Maybe you put your forehead in shallow folds over a cloud of clouds like a threatening road across the sky. Possibly one struggles with the question of whether that misty Aalborg survived the night and is still waiting at home in the fridge.

You probably just let the Kattegatt’s sizzling swells in your ear and think absolutely nothing. When you see Jäger Arén’s pictures from just such a day, then you have to think exactly what you want. For example, if the insects take over the world, let’s hope that they remember with gratitude how we took them on all these lazy, beautiful and carefree picnics on the shore.

Text: Håkan Engler
Photography: Stranded by Jäger Arén. First published in 1996.