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Until a few weeks ago photographer Jan von Holleben was stationed in Haukeli, one of the coldest parts of Norway and the place where his ongoing project with artist, Michelle Jezierski, began last year...

In the village of Haukeli, which lies between Oslo and Bergen, von Holleben endured temperatures of -30º to get the images he wanted for what became his and Jezierski's White Lakes project.

Schloss

"During the shoot I established the idea of working with Michelle," says Holleben of the collaborative project, the first images from which recently appeared on his website. "For a long time we'd wanted to do a project to do together."

When Holleben travelled to Norway in the spring of 2009, he became interested in the snow covered mountain lakes that, to him, "seemed to hide something hidden and magical". These white lakes appeared to be mirrored in the sky, with only a few rocks and trees indicating the solid ground.

Yellow Brick Road

He took his photographs to Jezierski, a painter, who began to apply colour to the prints. "An artistic ping-pong game took place," says von Holleben. "Photography versus painting, reality versus the surreal. The work turned into a friendly struggle with the will to fuse one another's visions, yet still be clear on one's own perspectives."

Do The Mountain Dance

Von Holleben hopes to exhibit the project this year and has said that a second batch of images are currently being worked on. This time, however, he's visisted somewhere "very hot".

More at janvonholleben.com (where you can see more of the White Lakes series) and michellejezierski.com.

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