Arild Kristo (May 17, 1939 – July 7, 2010) was a Norwegian photographer, graphic designer, actor and filmmaker. He was considered one of the most creative photographers and filmmakers in Norway during the sixties, but also one of the most rejected.
Early life
Arild Kristo, born in Oslo, was the son of the cabaret singer and writer Einar Kristoffersen. At the age of 18 he enrolled on a commercial trade ship, spent a few months in New York and was offered a job as a sailor by the photographer Finn Bergan in the remake of
Windjammer
A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary records t ...
.
Kristo got photographic education at
ArtCenter College of Design
The ArtCenter College of Design is a private art college in Pasadena, California.
It was incorporated in 1930 as a degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the visual arts and design. ...
and received a letter of recommendation by the editor Richard Pollard at
Life (magazine)
''Life'' (stylized as ''LIFE'') is an American magazine launched in 1883 as a weekly publication. In 1972, it transitioned to publishing "special" issues before running as a monthly from 1978 to 2000. Since then, ''Life'' has irregularly publi ...
.
Career
In Paris 1961 Arild Kristo took one of his most appreciated and highly priced photographs, ''The portrait painter on Montmartre'', now in the collection of the Norwegian National museum.
Back in Oslo, he formed the picture agency
Manité with the photographers Robert A. Robinson and Dan Young.
In Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie he discovered the boy Manfred Stein, who played the lead in Kristo's first experiment in
photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
. The series was purchased by
Look (American magazine)
''Look'' was a biweekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa, from 1937 to 1971, with editorial offices in New York City. It had an emphasis on photographs and photojournalism in addition to human interest and lifestyle ar ...
and later was published in 17 other countries.
In 1966 he created the short film ''Undergrunnen / The Underground'', a modernist view of the Oslo subway and the people using it. The film got big impact in the
art film
An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
community and was invited to film festivals all over the world. Another short film ''Kristoball'' (1967) was directed before Arild Kristo made his feature film debut.
Eddie og Suzanne, a
road movie
A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...
with a love theme, took six years to complete but landed 1975 in a critic and audience success. Sixteen years later, Kristo made an animated short film called ''Mirakelet / The Miracle'', which depicted the difficulty of funding his films.
As an actor, he participated in six films, studied
method acting
Method acting, known as the Method, is a range of rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, understanding, and expe ...
at the National Film Center in Oslo, and for Professor
Marketa Kimbrell at the
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
.
In 2010, Marthe Stokvik produced the documentary ''The World of Arild Kristo'' for the film company Laterna Magica.
Filmography
As director
* 1966: ''Undergrunnen'' (12 min.)
* 1967: ''Kristoball'' (11 min.)
* 1975: ''Eddie og Suzanne'' (89 min.)
* 1991: ''Mirakelet'' (13 min.)
As actor
* 1987: ''
Over grensen
''Over grensen'' (Over the Border) or ''Feldmann-saken'' (The Feldman Case) is a Norwegian drama film that premiered on February 19, 1987. Bjørn Sundquist won the Amanda Award for the best male lead for his performance in the film.
Plot
The fil ...
'' as a security head
Permanent collections
* ''The Portrait Artist on Montmartre'',
National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
The National Museum (, officially the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design) is a museum in Oslo, Norway which holds the Norwegian state's public collection of art, architecture, and design objects. The collection totals over 400,000 w ...
, Norway.
Awards
*World Press Photo, 1963.
References
External links
Arild Kristo official websiteImdb: Arild KristoFilmarkivet: Arild KristoFilmens Hus Oslo: Arild Kristo utställning 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristo, Arild
1939 births
2010 deaths
Photographers from Oslo