Framed
American Urban Photography 1907–2012
2023–2024
Introduction
FRAMED offers a comprehensive view of 20th-century American street photography and invites visitors to explore the vibrant cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. The collection, spanning from 1907 to 2012, showcases revolutionary perspectives from American photographers, capturing the essence of urban life during a period of rapid change.
The works are owned by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, an independent Savings Bank Foundation, and the collection is now part of the permanent deposits at the Lillehammer Art Museum and Drammens Museum. The exhibition is a large collaboration between the Lillehammer Art Museum, Drammens Museum, Sparebankstiftelsen DNB, the curators Øivind Storm Bjerke, Svein Olav Hoff and Åsmund Thorkildsen, and Snøhetta's team of architects, graphic- and digital designers.
Technical details
Sparebankstiftelsen DNB
All photos by Calle Huth
Capturing the rhythm of city life
The photographers' innovative portrayal of urban complexity is at the heart of FRAMED. Through the lenses of renowned 20th-century photographers such as Diane Arbus, Ed Ruscha, Richard Avedon, Berenice Abbott, Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and William Eggleston, audiences witness diverse moments of city life—hopeful newcomers, playful children, laborers, lovers, and those adrift in the urban sprawl. The images capture the emotional spectrum of city life, framed by the beauty and grit of the metropolis.
These pioneers revolutionized the field of photography, providing profound insights into the human condition through their lens. Their work continues to resonate with contemporary audiences, offering timeless reflections on urban life.
The concept of the "Frame"
The central design concept for the exhibition is the "frame," which influences both the exhibition design and visual identity, serving as a physical and symbolic boundary, focusing on context and periphery. This theme permeates the exhibition, where city frames define what is seen and hint at what lies beyond.
Bringing the Metropolis to Lillehammer
The FRAMED exhibition contrasts with Lillehammer's small-town charm. To bridge this gap, Snøhetta designed a "washroom," a transition zone that prepares visitors for the experience, offering stylistic elements that they find in the pictures shown in the exhibition. One of them is a video installation using lights to communicate the city's pulse, such as cars driving and stopping at intersections. Another installation plays on the perception of transparency, reflection, and a combination of both. Together they guide visitors intellectually and emotionally into the exhibition's atmosphere.
When entering the exhibition, the lighted arrow marking the entrance, is an homage to the neon signs characteristic of inner-city streets. The layout of the first-floor's large space is inspired by the typical city grid and diagonals running through it—here represented by a staircase, which also connects the first and second floors, tying the exhibition together in an uninterrupted sequence. The second floor features three sequential spaces, including an entrance inspired by Ed Ruscha's work and elements evoking the American subway system.
At the exhibition's end, visitors pass through a red-lit passage, reminiscent of a photo lab, before returning to Lillehammer, enriched by the big city experience.
Exploring visual urban landscapes and typography
The exhibition's visual identity draws inspiration from American city typography and signage, particularly New York.
In city life, typography shapes the character of the urban landscape, contributing to its identity and atmosphere while also conveying the city's history, culture, and aspirations. In FRAMED, the typographic design is inspired by city signage—texts pointing in two directions, much like how city signs frame the urban living experience.
Signage in big cities functions as a framework for experiencing and understanding city life—not only as directional guidance but also as a storytelling tool, framing streets and avenues with symbols that shape how residents and visitors perceive their surroundings.
Engaging younger audiences
An educational space at the end of the exhibition features a 1:1 scale hand-painted line drawing depicting iconic urban scenes from American cityscapes—like taxis and children playing—that echo the themes of the photographs in an abstract way. As the exhibition is open to everyone, the education room is designed to engage and attract younger audiences and showcase that art, culture, and history can and should be available and exciting for all.
The framing of a coffee table book
The book Framed—American Urban Photography 1907–2012 will become a lasting testament to this historically significant event—for the collection and the exhibition itself. The coffee table book documents the works in the collection and the ideas and thinking behind the curatorial approach.
A full circle moment
This exhibition is hosted in the extension of the Lillehammer Art Museum, a place of special significance to Snøhetta, being one of our first completed projects. For the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994, the city council decided to focus on the city's art and culture and expand the Lillehammer Art Museum, a building dating from 1963, designed by renowned Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø. In time for the Olympics, Snøhetta completed the extension in 1994 by constructing an independent building that sought to bridge the architectural language of the original buildings and contemporary formal expression.
In 2016, a second Snøhetta-designed expansion connected the two existing institutions, adding the new exhibition hall Weidemannsalen to the Museum, two theaters, and an interior renovation to the Lillehammer Cinema.
