Same
Same is a project about Sami identity. What is it to be a Sami today? 100 Sami Portraits is a major documentary and photo project made for Tråante 2017. In 2016, Halvari traveled around Norway, Finland and Russia to photograph and interview 100 Sami about their identity. The reason for the project was that Halvari, after many years abroad working with ethnic conflicts, became quite frustrated to come home to Norway and find that the stereotypes about minorities and indigenous people were alive there as well as in the world. As a photographer, Halvari has had several exhibitions where his strength is portraits. He is excellent at telling a bigger story in his work where the photograph communicates with the viewer on several levels. In 2016, Halvari signed a letter of intent with Tana and Varanger Museums Siida, of which the Savio Museum is a part, about touring the exhibition which he was about to produce. The exhibition was first shown in a simplified form in connection with Tråante 2017. Later it was shown during the Varanger Festival in Vadsø in August 2017. A collaboration between Halvari and the Savio Museum started with the idea to tour the exhibition. It took some time before everything was in place, but the exhibition is still just as relevant. In the meantime, Halvari has published a book related to the project. The book Same was launched just before Christmas in 2019

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Torgrim Hermansen Halvari (b. 1965) is a Norwegian photographer and journalist with a master’s degree in documentary photography. He has also studied journalism, social anthropology, sociology, culture, the culture of the north and more. He currently works as an information officer in the Norwegian Officers and Specialists Association, but spends his spare time as a photographer and artist. He is affiliated with the Norwegian Photographer’s Association and is a member and board member of the Sami Artists’ Association, and a board member of the Sami Center for Contemporary Art. As a photographer, Halvari has had several exhibitions where his portraits tell a bigger story and the photograph communicates with the viewer on several levels. Halvari has worked for years in the Balkans, Middle East, Pakistan and more. He uses several different cameras and techniques