The childhood of Sofie Sund

Words and photography by Sofie Sund

My project called «Childhood» is about childhood memories. I have very few memories from my childhood, and this is something that has bothered me a lot. The things that I remember, are just small and silly moments that I think most people would just forget. But these moments have become memories that are just stuck in my head, and I often think about why I don’t remember all the important moments that well. 

I decided to start writing down the memories that I have and make it into an art project. For a long time, I’ve thought that these memories are annoying, and I just wanted to forget them. But by making this into a personal project it has made me like these memories and wanting to keep them. I’ve been working with specific memories and feelings in this project but twisted everything a little to make the pictures more absurd. 

One memory that I remember quiet well is when my brother decided to put a slice of bread into the VCR. I was very little when this happened, but I can remember my mom was talking to me with her back towards my little brother, who discovered that the slice of bread fit perfectly in the VCR. I didn’t say anything, I just let it happen. I have turned this memory into a few pictures with different objects. 

As I was a little girl in kindergarten, I used to have a day every week when I could choose my own outfit. I had this specific day because I loved to dress up in all kinds of colors and patterns, and my parents didn’t want me to dress like this every day. This is something I have been told, but I do know how much I love colors and that it is a big part of me, and I understand that it has always been like that. But as we get older and think about our childhood and things you have been told about your childhood, it’s often that these memories have changed a little by little as times goes by. What is real, and what has been changed while people have told you about these memories? 

In the beginning of this project I used a Polaroid camera. This was a technique I decided to use to accentuate the childhood memories. The technique makes the pictures a little blurry, and it gives a nostalgic feeling. But shooting with polaroid camera can be expensive in the long run, so I had to figure out a way to continue the project with a digital camera, but still have the same feel that a polaroid camera gives. It took a while for me to figure it out, but after spending some time in Photoshop I found a way to edit the picture the way I liked them. 

Sofie Sund and twenty-three year old photographer from Norway. Expressing herself through words has “never been my thing” but using photography to do so just felt natural from the very beginning. She was almost twelve years old when she first got interested in photography, as it opened a whole new world for her, feeling she founded the big “missing piece” and that she could finally express her feelings in a completely new way.

“I love working with specific memories in my projects, especially strange memories from my childhood, but twist everything a little to make the pictures even more absurd. I spend a lot of time experimenting with colors and objects, and making odd photographs, but to me photography it’s all about expressing feelings and bringing ideas to life.”