Knud Knudsen Outdoor Exhibition

The photographer and fruit grower Knud Knudsen (1832-1915)

Knud Knudsen (1832-1915) was one of the pioneers of Norwegian photography in the 1800s. He produced the earliest photo series of everyday life and working life in Norway, and took thousands of landscape photos all over the country. Knudsen was a style innovator within photography. He received a number of prizes, and was a well-known photographer both in Norway and abroad.

Knud Knudsen was born in Odda in 1832. He developed an interest in cultivating fruit early on, and was awarded a grant in 1862 to travel to Germany to study horticulture. At one point he was experimenting with more than a hundred different varieties of apples, pears and berries in Odda.

Thousands of Knud Knudsen's photographs are available online. The archive is stored and administered by the Picture Collection of the University Library in Bergen, and can be accessed at: marcus.uib.no.

Urban Renewal at the Site of the Smelting Plant

At Odda, that delightful and world famous place, a large installation is now emerging that will change the character of the place entirely. This was published in Teknisk Ukeblad (The Weekly Technical Journal) in 1908. Odda was no longer an idyllic spot in Hardanger. Production at the Smelting Plant ceased in 2003. Gates and fences have been removed, and the factory site has been developed as an urban district of Odda. The exhibition Photographer Knud at the Smelting Plant brings the culture of historical Hardanger back to where it once belonged.