KRISTINE WATHNE

UPDATE 21.05.17:
Outtakes from 6 new collectors photographed in 2017.  Full series will only be viewable in connection
with future exhibitions, and be exclusively published in the fourth edition of the book MANIA.

Arve Møllevik realized that he wasn`t the crazy man when someone asked him if he used wear his ultratight jeans while he slept. After collecting for over 20 years and cultivated his fascination for 80’s clothing, his closet is stacked with over 100 pairs of jeans and unisex tights. The tighter, the better. Shooting wetlookphotos in the shower gives Møllevik an adrenalin rush, modelling or being a photographer himself.

Jan Roger Elstad wanted to do something that no other men had done before him. He started collecting wedding dresses in 1991. Over 400 dresses are organized and stored in his pinkpainted basement after time eras, from 1877-2015. It all started when he came over a bunch of weddingdresses that was going to be thrown away. Elstad took care of the cultural treasure a wedding dress is instead of seeing them being thrown in the trash.

Harald Haraldsen travels whenever he gets the chance. He has been to over 46 countries and travelled to Thailand over 60 times. His living room is furnished traditionally by various continent s and cultures, decorated with lightings, souvenirs and humorous elements.The biggest dominant area of the living room is dedicated to Thailand. A large thai temple are placed in the middle of the room where it are held ceremonies and funerals.

Karl-Erik Johansen is also known as the 50’s man. Johansen has devoted his entire life and home to his love for the 50’s era. He hates white walls and sterile interiors - you’ll never find mass produced furniture from IKEA in his apartment. By the age of 9, he started collecting LP ́s. As his collection and himself grew older and bigger, his mom got tired of seeing him spending all his weekly pocket moneys on lps and got him an ultimatum: to leave the nest or keep on collecting by himself. He moved by himself, with over 70.000 LP ́s organized in an own room dedicated to his collection. Johansen showed me his last LP scoops while he said with a big smile on his face: ”I don’t feel the need for a wife or having kids - this is my life - and I’m loving it”.

Maria Toftum became obsessed with royalty after princess Diana died in 1997. She immediately started collecting royality effects obsessively. When Princess Diana was still alive, Toftum had no interest in royalty at all. Toftum administrates 20 facebookgroups where she posts daily photos of varied dead royal persons shared with over 10.000 people in this closed facebookcommunity.

Svein Gjervan shares his home with 2836 santa clauses. He has been collecting for over 35 years. His collection grows with between 60-100 new santas each year.. In 2014 he had to move to a bigger house to fit his collection. It takes Gjervan 1-2 months to place the santas out in his home, in connection of get the house adorned for Christmas.

The Santa are to be found everywhere: In the bathroom, on the kitchenstove, on the TV shelf and so on. Gjervan appriciates the original, classic santa claus look - each of the 2836 santas in his collection are different from each other, and if Gjervan gets an santa given to him as a present that he already has in his collection, he gives them away to his neighbor who shares the same passion: namely to collect santa clauses.

Ole Elvis Andersen fascination for Elvis Presley grew bigger and bigger since he was 12 years old. Elvis are central to everything Ole Elvis does - in 1992 he got Elvis added as his middle name, as everybody he knew was calling him Elvis. Raised in a deeply religious family, he was told that the devil would take him to hell if he didn’t stop expressing his love for rock music. He chose Elvis, and rock and roll.

Jens Rino Haugens collects aircraft cockpits. The cockpits are being held outside in his courtyard, where there are placed 9 cockpits from different eras and countries. Inside his house, Haugen has an own room dedicated to his aircraft instruments. His biggest dream is to run his own museum.

Rolf Ressem shares his passion with over 400 likeminded people in a worldwide pen-collectors club. He has been collecting pens for the past 9 years, and over 13.000 various pens are stored in boxes and suitcases. The most rare and valuable ones are kept safe and are organized in filefolders. A few years ago Ressem tried to beat the Guinness World Record - they counted pens for over 48-hours, but sadly he was only missing two pens to beat the guinnes world record.

1. Arve Møllevik realized that he wasn`t the crazy man when someone asked him if he slept while wearing his ultratight jeans. After collecting for over 20 years and cultivated his fascination for 80’s clothing, his is closet stacked with over 100 pairs of jeans and unisex tights. The tighter, the better. Shooting wetlookphotos in the shower gives Møllevik an adrenalin rush, modelling or being a photographer himself.

2. Jan Roger Elstad wanted to do something that no other men had done before him. He started collecting wedding dresses in 1991. Over 400 dresses are organized and stored in his pinkpainted basement after time eras, from 1877-2015. It all started when he came over a bunch of weddingdresses that was going to be thrown away. Then Elstad took care of the cultural treasure a wedding dress is instead of seeing them being thrown in the trash.

3. Harald Haraldsen travels whenever he gets the chance. He has been to over 46 countries and travelled to Thailand for over 60 times. His living room is traditionally furnished from various continents and cultures, decorated with lightings, souvenirs and humorous elements. The biggest dominant area of the living room is his large thai temple that is placed in the middle of the room where he helds ceremonies and funerals.

4. Karl-Erik Johansen is also known as the 50’s man. Johansen has devoted his entire life and home to his love for the 50’s era. He hates white walls and sterile interiors - you’ll never find mass produced furniture from IKEA in his apartment. By the age of 9, he started collecting LP´s. As his collection and himself grew older and bigger, his mom got tired of seeing him spending all his weekly pocket moneys on lps and got him an ultimatum: to leave the nest or keep on collecting by himself. Johansen showed me his last LP scoops while he said with a big smile on his face: ”I don’t feel the need for a wife or having kids - this is my life - and I’m loving it”. He moved, and over 70.000 LP´s are organized in an own room dedicated to his collection.

5. Maria Toftum became obsessed with royalty after princess Diana died in 1997. She immediately started collecting royality effects obsessively. When Princess Diana was still alive, Toftum had no interest in royalty at all. Toftum administrates 20 facebookgroups where she posts daily photos of varied dead royal persons shared with over 10.000 people in this closed facebookcommunity.

6. Svein Gjervan shares his home with 2836 santa clauses. He has been collecting for over 35 years. His collection grows with between 60-100 new santas each year.. In 2014 he had to move to a bigger house to fit his collection. It takes Gjervan 1-2 months to place the santas out in his home, in connection of get the house adorned for Christmas. The Santa are to be found everywhere: In the bathroom, on the kitchenstove, on the TV shelf and so on. Gjervan appriciates the original, classic santa claus look - each of the 2836 santas in his collection are different from each other, and if Gjervan gets an santa given to him as a present that he already has in his collection, he gives them away to his neighbor who shares the same passion: namely to collect santa clauses. 

7. Ole Elvis Andersen fascination for Elvis Presley grew bigger and bigger since he was 12 years old. Elvis are central to everything Ole Elvis does - in 1992 he got Elvis added as his middle name, as everybody he knew was calling him Elvis. Raised in a deeply religious family, he was told that the devil would take him to hell if he didn’t stop expressing his love for rock music. He chose Elvis, and rock and roll.

8. Jens Rino Haugens collects aircraft cockpits. The cockpits are being held outside in his courtyard, where there are placed 9 cockpits from different eras and countries. Inside his house, Haugen has an own room dedicated to his aircraft instruments. His biggest dream is to run his own museum.

9. Rolf Ressem shares his passion with over 400 likeminded people in a worldwide pen-collectors club. He has been collecting pens for the past 9 years, and over 13.000 various pens are stored in boxes and suitcases. The most rare and valuable ones are kept safe and are organized in filefolders. A few years ago Ressem tried to beat the Guinness World Record - they counted pens for over 48-hours, but sadly he was only missing two pens to beat the guinnes world record.

Special thanks:

Arve Møllevik, Jan Roger Elstad, Harald Haraldsen, Karl-Erik Johansen, Maria Toftum, Svein Gjervan, Ole Elvis Andersen, Jens Rino Haugen & Rolf Ressem for being originals and for the opportunity to meet and photograph you. You are the craziest, most inspiring people I have ever met.



I also want to thank:

My friends and family, art photography teacher Arild Juul, Trafo.no & Trondheim Strakstiltak for support.