Ulrik Tofte

Ulrik was born in Denmark,1974, studied Photography and film at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Aesthetics and Culture at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He has been working professionally for 10 years with international customers such as Getty Images and Cultura Creative in London. His work has been featured in publications and advertisements for clients such as NOKIA, Orange, Rabobank and many others.

What interests me in my personal projects have always been revolved around what defines humans. It could be our norms, values, symbols, moral and ideas. These aspects sometimes seem so natural to us that we do not think about them or even consider challenging them. It could be the way we use language, and how we address things or ways of seeing. In other words: what interests me is how the mixture of cultural codes influences and affects us.

On one hand, culture gives us the ability to navigate among other individuals in society. It is within these cultural structures or social phenomenas that we operate and they generate meaning. Hence, they give us an identity.

But in defining what our norms or values are we also determine what they are not: We draw a line. Meaning we include certain aspects and thereby exclude other. In Europa we see a tendency to draw the line clearly. Perhaps it stems from a loss of national identity and threat from outside cultures or even by pop culture that we continuously seek to understand who we are by looking back at previous eras.

The cultural foundation shows us the possibilities, boundaries and limitations in life. They are rooted deeply inside our ways of life and on one hand makes society coherent but also make us view things or people in a certain way.

I see photography as a way of addressing the pressure that society exerts on the individual and how the individual deals with this. It is not for the purpose of truth but as a method that offers a different manner of perception.