I had worked with Monocle on a few assignments before, and they contacted me about doing a large 7 page story about the Norwegian Army’s officer training for their #56 ‘Defence’ issue. I flew down to Kristiansand, in the very south of Norway, and spent about 13-14 hours out in the forest with this group of people. They were in the middle of ‘hell-week,’ where they sleep out in the forest, only for 2-3 hours a night, carry rucksacks weighing almost half their bodyweight and go through both physical and mental trials. I think this was the 5th day; so, they were pretty exhausted and didn’t care about me being there whatsoever. This really allowed me to capture some unfiltered emotions.

How long did the aspiring recruits spend in the field? What did your schedule photographing them look like?

The whole programme lasts 3 weeks, and this particular group we were following went on for a total of 7 days in the forest during ‘hell-week’, but they never knew when the last day would be. They were actually told they were only halfway, when in truth, it was the day before the last. This was just to see who could push themselves to go on or who would drop out. Me and the journalist worked basically from first light until it got dark, which is quite long here in the summertime. I was pretty tired at the end of that day, so I gained a fair bit of respect for these young men and women who managed to push themselves that far.

I shot 6 portraits of 6 different recruits what were meant to be used in a grid in the magazine. At the point of shooting, I hardly gave them any directions, I just showed them how to stand and told them to just look at me and be themselves. It turned out to be very effective, and I found it’s really interesting to look at their faces and see all kinds of different emotions, exhaustion and determination. One of those shots is the one that ended up on the cover.

In reading the article in “Monocle” magazine it was emphasized that commanding officers were looking more for intelligence and endurance, rather than brawn, in their would be recruits. How were you inspired by the men and women who faced these challenges?

I haven’t been in the army myself; so, it was a pretty new environment for me to be in. I suppose I had some pre-conceived notions of what kind of environment I’d be shooting in, but everyone turned out to be very helpful and welcoming. I wouldn’t say I got any ideas of joining the army myself, but I certainly would have enjoyed spending some more time there. I’ve actually been thinking about doing some personal work within the army in my own time; so, I was really happy when I got this opportunity. I think there’s something very interesting about these young men and women, who are on the verge of being adults, but still being required to act and behave very responsibly.