Tonje Thilesen

Tonje Thilesen, residing in Brooklyn and embracing they/them pronouns, originates from Oslo, Norway. Deeply shaped by a familial and cultural reverence for nature, Tonje’s passion for photography ignited during adolescence, born from a profound introspection and a yearning to explore one's physical surroundings beyond the limitations of the naked eye. This passion extended beyond nature, as capturing social occurrences fascinated them too. Tonje emerged within Oslo's punk and hardcore music scenes in the socialist/anarchist east, eventually moving to Berlin. Roles as a music writer, promoter, and manager, resulted into photographing the DIY music industry. Tonje’s enduring fascination with both natural and social environments resonates in their established visual style. They blend earthly elements with the surreal, intermingling the mundane and the ethereal. Always bathed in warm, luminous light that beckons viewers into an accessible yet aspirational dreamscape, Tonje’s images exhibit sensitivity and gentleness, alongside an undercurrent of boldness and occasional radicalism. Tonje’s photography spans portraiture, still life, and documentary work, and has been featured in The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times, Time Magazine, BOOOOOOOM, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Fotografi Magasin, The Wall Street Journal, and many others.