Tom Sandberg

His images revolve around seemingly simple motifs: an airplane on an empty runway, a girl with her eyes covered, or the shadow of a man glancing into the horizon. Beneath these surfaces, a complex visual dialogue about perception and time unfolds. In Sandberg’s world, there is no singular narrative, no imposed symbolism. Instead, the viewer is invited into a space where meaning arises in the tension between what is present and what is absent. As critics have noted, it is often what you don’t immediately see that lingers in the mind long after.

Central to Sandberg’s practice was his subtle work in the darkroom. His richly modulated greyscales – deep blacks like volcanic glass, soft whites like frosted crystal – create a tactile presence that exceeds the photographic image itself. This meticulous calibration of light and tone contributes to the atmosphere of stillness and unease that defines much of his work.

The exhibition brings together works from various periods in Sandberg’s career, highlighting his ongoing engagement with the limits of perception. What does it mean to see? And how does the image shape our understanding of the visible? Sandberg’s photographs raise these questions without offering definitive answers; they are open images that allow us to linger in the indeterminate.

With a visual language that ranges from the monumental to the nearly invisible, Tom Sandberg reimagined what photography could be. His works remain a quiet testimony to an artist who insisted that even the humblest subjects contain entire worlds, if observed with care.

Following this exhibition at NILS STÆRK, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter will present Verden vibrerer (October 31, 2025 – March 1, 2026), the first comprehensive retrospective of Tom Sandberg’s work, spanning from the late 1970s to his final years. Recognized as one of Norway’s most significant and prolific art photographers, Sandberg also made a lasting mark internationally.