The importance of personal work

Håkon Borgen is a former electrical engineer turned photographer, from a small town in Norway. In addition to his commercial work, Håkon is passionate about his personal photography projects, which often culminate in print, whether as a small run of zines or a photo book.

Hi Håkon, it’s a pleasure to have you for this interview! Would you like to start by presenting yourself to our readers?
My name is Håkon Borgen, I’m 31 years old. I live in a small town called Ørland in Norway. It’s on the coastline in the middle of the country. I live on a small “farm” with my wife, baby and two cats. I’m a former electrical engineer turned photographer. Some of my hobbies outside photography are working in the garden, doing small farming for myself and working in the kitchen making food. I have also been DJing for most of my life (not professionally anymore, just for fun with my friends), and I enjoy playing video games. I’m a big movie nerd and have a part-time job at the local cinema, which goes hand in hand with that.

I work as a professional photographer. My work includes editorial assignments, architectural, design and real estate photography, events, advertisements for brands and social media, portraits and weddings. I also make videos for clients that need that, but mostly focus on the photography side of the business. I have been working part-time as I studied photography from 2020 to 2023 and full-time since June of 2023.

Can you share the story of when you first became interested in photography and what your first camera was?
I have always been interested in the arts. Before I became a photographer, I did painting/graffiti as a hobby. The thing that actually got me interested in photography was that I needed to find a way to document my work in order to put it online. That turned into an oppression in photographing instead of painting or doing graffiti. I actually got my first camera to my confirmation (when you turn 15). It was a Casio Exilim digicam EX-Z1200 (12.1MP). I still have the camera, but when I got it, it didn’t see much use. It wasn’t until later, as described before, when I needed to document my art, that I got into it. Then I was my dad’s Canon EOS 450D and 18-200mm lens. I bought my first lens second-hand for it, a 50mm F1.8 or something. That was around the time I started travelling a lot, so that camera came along and boosted my addiction to photography.