Margareta Bergman’s being transported And rapt in secret studies is a photo book comprised of original photographs mixed with historical photos and found materials. This compendium was created while surveying the development of a section of the E6, the main north-south thoroughfare in Norway, at the invitation of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Bergman’s approach stems in part from a strong distrust of the preconditions for modern road construction — particularly that speed and acceleration should constitute the very premise for all societal development.
Bergman’s photographs were made on trips in Gudbrandsdalen, Norway’s primary land transport corridor, while working alongside inspectors and contractors completing the road construction. Some of the resulting prints use the aura of objectivity surrounding the documentary style, contrasting with those containing collage, paint, and material alterations. The book’s design transforms these materials into a psychic topography, inviting the viewer to become a co-observer of the social- and landscape-changes taking place.
Margareta Bergman’s being transported And rapt in secret studies uses the book medium as a tool for creating new connections, building on her credo: technology that destroys is not fundamentally different from that used for repair. Illustrating this idea against the system of rules, planning, and structures for the road, the book becomes an alternative travel guide for intuitive and free thought.
