Portrait

Rise From the Ashes

Over the last years as my photography has developed there has been a lot of self portraits, mainly due to the fact I wanted to try something and couldn't get a modell for it. This is an idea I wanted to be a self portrait. Struggles are not something anyone wishes for themselves or on others. There is a lot to be said about struggles. Ive had my share of struggles, I'm not saying it was worse than what others went through, but I understand what it is like when you do not have a will to live another day. I understand the urge to rather be finished with life than to battle another day. I understand how it can be hard to find hope. An encouraging verse is Romans 8:28 (ESV) know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Such a great verse but I encourage those of you that have friends in the dumps or in hard times, to listen, to try to understand the situation, dont throw scripture to lighten it up, dont try to sugarcoat it. dont quote this verse any chance you get. A hug might help more than any verse of scripture. sitting down and listening might help more than any resources. Crying with them can unleash the explosion inside and help them conquer the trial. Not everyone is thankful for their trials, but Honestly I can say that I am. The hardships of my life have chiseled me to be the person I am. I can help others. I am alright now. Im positive, I'm motivated, I'm determined, Im thankful and you dont need to worry about me. But know there person you see everyday smiling might be hurting inside. There was a time as a child I had a long knife on my chest at least a dozen times. There are several reasons i didn't do it. Mainly because it was selfish, I kept hoping, and I didn't wish that tragedy on those around me. But nobody knew the hurt I had until years after. I smiled, I laughed, I climbed and goofed off like I always had. Because that was the role everyone knew I played so I kept playing it even when I didn't feel like it. Nobody knew I was even sad. So take time to ask people how they really are doing. maybe they need to unload, or a reality check. Or see someone that cares. This photo is supposed to show my conquering of hard times and hope for the good times in the future. Im not done with hard times. But with God with me All things are possible. btw. I think I'm done with this photo, but if you spot something that needs to still be corrected, I welcome a critique.

I am Groot

I liked Treebeard from LOTR and wanted to do something similar for a long time. When Guardians of the Galaxy came out I got inspiration again to finally do the project with inspiration from Groot, and my name is Iwan Groot so it was a Good fit since I was there before the movie too =D

Champion Before Dawn

Was spontaneous after another shoot like it, as I wanted one for myself. but later found it nice and applicable symbolically for me in my life. I went for more warrior body paint than the others. As I'm a warrior in the army of God. And Im fighting so many things in my life. I dont like to hurt a soul but I do love punching a punching bag amongst other things. "His hand uplifts me" The harsh contrast and darkness can be symbolic for my depression and trying to be a light and overcoming it. I chose champion because I'm going to conquer this part of my life, and I chose before dawn, because Ive already started the fight and I know I'm close to winning it. But the dawn hasn't come just yet. Enjoy the piece.

Viking Helmet of Hair

I wanted to use hair to make a type of hat, scarf, helmet or veil and this one of the results

500px Photo ID: 143000453

500px Photo ID: 143000453 -

Miss Coca Cola

Helen Eriksen Røberg helped me a while as a make up artist and we also had a photoshoot when she saw the results of with some other models and wanted to have some of the fun. This was her Idea and I thought it was great! Vibrant red suited well with the crazy hairstyle of coca cola bottles, also mimicking the 70's style.

500px Photo ID: 89102237

500px Photo ID: 89102237 - I myself love coffee and I make espressos quite often, which also inspires me to make photos of it. For the background I used one of my own painting as a backdrop since it was about coffee. In this one i was trying to get the feeling of when you have been longing for a coffee and finally get and how nice caffeine entering your body feels. you can follow me here or at https://www.facebook.com/iwangrootportraits Like, Favorite, Comment, Share, Enjoy! =D

500px Photo ID: 109452427

500px Photo ID: 109452427 - On the 17th of May I spent independence day in the town called Volda with my sister a group of young adults, and took a few spontaneous portraits there. here is one after My sister braided the little patch of hair on the top of his head. the background was not white and had bunch of stuff I didn't want to. so I emphasized highlights that were from backlit light, and blurred, brightened and washed out the background. and since I was going for the Viking Look I processed it in a way to make it look like an old photograph and maybe like a slightly damaged print of Film camera print. I used Black and white blending methods to overlap on the original image to emphasize the freckles and add a different dynamic that my regular portraits. Hope you Like it

500px Photo ID: 109645671

500px Photo ID: 109645671 - While celebrating independence day in Volda, i took photos of several people, and i asked this pretty lady if i could take her photo and practice retouching with it, expecially since I wanted to see if there was a way to enhance freckles. I like the result, had a bit of a problem with the window in the background but managed to difuse the light to a gradient and give a nice lightsource, I didnt do so much specific sutff with the mouth or eyes like i often do because a new technique i use, i made a special black and white version of the photo and paste it above it and blend it based on brightness, which helps a lot with the control of color, light, drama, and in this case helped enhance freckles.

500px Photo ID: 143001173

500px Photo ID: 143001173 - Here are some portraits that I took in the fall when a storm was coming with the beautiful model out on the island Haramsøya and she braved the cold, hail, wind, rain to make these beautiful images. Ive been meaning to post these but never got around to it and I usually post on photo at a time but I wanted to get a few more portraits out on my website. =D

Tribal Tribute

The problem with tribal in western thinking is that tribal is associated with uncivilised, poor, primitive. Those connotations are sometimes as far from the truth as the east is from the West. For example Some tribes and kingdoms within the continent of Africa were so great Alexander the Great didnt want to have any conflict with them like Nubia. Others mystified colonialist with their art and architecture and dumbfounded the europeans with their advancements the Swahili kingdom. The Tauregs didnt want european firepower because their weapons were was to unpredictable.

Sleeping Beauty

I Usually dont upload several at the same time but here are several from the same shoot and kind of the same idea and autumn as it has left for this year the leaves have fallen from the trees and the barren landscapes around us await snow. this photoshoot is right by Moa where the vents blow air upwards allowing for the leaves to floatin the air around you or anything else loose.

Tribute to Nubian Royalty

I had another TCK that did a shoot almost a decade ago with peacock feathers and was inspired to do something similar. I also had an uncle that had a peacock farm and I would collect feathers there and been mesmerised by them throught my life. Peacock Feathers also were a high commodity for the Nubian Empire that had an alliance with Alexander the great

Tribute to Nubian Royalty

I had another TCK that did a shoot almost a decade ago with peacock feathers and was inspired to do something similar. I also had an uncle that had a peacock farm and I would collect feathers there and been mesmerised by them throught my life. Peacock Feathers also were a high commodity for the Nubian Empire that had an alliance with Alexander the great