Thinking, Naturally with photographer, producer & creative director Elevine Berge | an interview

On true nature, sources of inspiration, creativity + connection, and more

Oct 31, 2024

I was drawn to Elevine by intrigue. She appeared to be one of those humans who defied easy categorization—someone whose work is art, and whose art is both craft and lifestyle. As well, Elevine has a relationship with the natural world that is intimate and pervasive. I was eager to learn more about the person behind the productions—the mind behind the eye—and the heart guiding the hand. As always, I’m certain you’ll enjoy doing the same.

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Meet Elevine Berge

Elevine Berge is a photographer and creative director and producer based in New York and Copenhagen.

Find more from Elevine @idaelevine and on her website here.

What is one of your core beliefs, or a main driving motivating force for how you live?

I believe in connection - a connection to ourselves, each other and to our surroundings. It is both something I am constantly striving for, and something that motivates me to keep seeking within and outside of myself and my community.

What do you most enjoy making/doing, or what are your most excited to create next?

I truly appreciate when I get to be part of facilitating events and environments for creatives to convene and collaborate, to encourage opportunities for makers to connect and interact under the common language of creative expression. I am currently feeling inspired by an upcoming curatorial partnership with people I treasure and admire.

I am also working on a book of my photographs, which is taking me through a different and more introspective process, one which I have not let myself explore for a while now. So that is both challenging and exciting.

Tell us about the roots of your relationship with nature?

Growing up in a mountain village bordering a national park in Norway has certainly planted my roots deeper in nature than I knew. Throughout my teenage years and early twenties I was chasing cities pulled by the natural force of their art scenes and more diverse perspectives on how to live; Oslo, London, Venezia, but after over a decade in New York now all I crave on my days off is to wander in the woods, feel the breeze on a mountain top or dip my body in a cold lake. Spending a night or two sleeping outdoors is my best reset.

What do you think about (a lot)?

I think a lot about my friends and people I know - I always find myself wondering what so and so is up to, how this person I am missing who is far away is doing, and how we can get together next. I think I carry a lot of empathy that takes up a lot of my energy, I even often worry for people, and so time with dear ones feels very precious to me. And I love new connections and the process of making new friends as an adult is really quiet thrilling.

The way I naturally take in other people’s energies a lot is contrasted with my other very insular and independent side, it is a part of me that needs a lot of solo time to recharge. I also think a lot about places I have been and places I want to go. I am constantly filled with visual imagery from experiences and inspirations, it keeps my brain very busy, filing and organizing my somewhat abstract library of references.

What do you wish more people knew about you?

I am in the process of applying for a few jobs and so I wish I was naturally better able at making people understand what I can do for them and their business. I am sure this is something most job seekers and especially creatives are challenged with! My CV may not be a list of hard hitting titles over years and years of linear progression up some career ladder, but looks rather more like a rumble tumble of wonderful insight into creative practices and how to see through projects from A to Z, through so much different independent work and collaborations. It seems impossible to distill all this into a one page resume typed in corporate jargon?

How do you describe your true nature? Feel free to expand on the idea of “true nature” or one’s nature, if you’re inclined to.

Being reminded of myself in nature is my most alive state; being in water. Feeling the elements. Warmth from a fire, gusts of wind. I feel so lucky to live in a place with ok healthy air, as I crave it all the time. Smelling it, feeling it, how it changes through the seasons, from dusk through high noon to dawn. My biggest pet peeve when traveling for work is often not being able to open up my hotel room window, it makes me so claustrophobic, disconnected from the outdoors.

Must-have natural or health-related items, or practices?

Herbal teas, movement, nature and touch are my basic tool kit.

Morning stretching is a non negotiable for my body, and I truly feel best if I also get to start my day with some dry brushing, an ice cold shower and some warming tea. It lets me focus on my breath and is such a wonderful boost and relief of any tension! Gua sha too is nice for that and easy when traveling. Or a rainy run with our dog and bicycle rides followed by a visit to a local sauna.

I adore deep yoga sessions with Gabrielle Epstein-Kasper. and movement classes taught by Marina Rae Trejo - lots of shaking the body around and getting good and sweaty, but it is as much therapy and church for the mind.

My partner has an incredible touch, and my friend Veronica Kohl is a dear source both for health advice and treasured acupuncture and cupping treatments.

I have learned so much about how to take better care of myself from her as well as Suanny Upegui and naturopath Maria Geyman.

Time spent in nature, moving my body, breathing fresh air, or being in the ocean are as important health practices to me as taking vitamins. Oh and I rarely travel without my foot roller, it is so helpful after long days working or exploring on my feet.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I feel like I find inspiration everywhere, sometimes it is overwhelming; in shapes, sounds, people and conversations. Very often from nature; light, the colors, the materials and most of all, the process; nature often takes time, nurturing, slowly sprouting, growing, generating new layers and connections. But nature can also be a brute and rapid destructive force. There is a time and a place for both.

I find a lot of inspiration in collaboration. Sometimes they need to be teased forward, other times it can feel like unspoken truths through a shared soul purpose.

What are some of the best words of wisdom you’ve encountered or received?

My friend Tione Thrice reminded me not long ago that “nobody makes their best decisions when exhausted.” It comes naturally to me to remember to credit other people’s work and forget about my own, or to make sure others are comfortable first. But I have slowly learned that I can only really give of myself if I take care of myself first, and that also means supporting my energy.

What are you curious about?

I am really curious to know if humans will ever learn from all the grave mistakes we have made and are constantly making; life on behalf of death, so much short term thinking, and divisiveness seemingly being a stronger driving force than our collective dreams and possibilities. I hope, and I want to believe in creation and co-existence over all, but there are days it is hard to stay curious and lean into all the discomforts and uncertainties with the aim of coming out stronger.

Introduce us to some of your favorite things; shops, peoples, places, items, ideas, recipes etc.

I am feeling so grateful to be on my way back to visit a part of the southwest United States that from the first of many visits took hold of my heart in a very special way; the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado as well as the towns and mesas of northern New Mexico. - It has been puzzling to me how I feel so much at home in these dusty arid landscapes that are on the surface so vastly opposite to the snow covered mountains where I grew up. But just like Jotunheimen, the High Desert offers the same resilient and sometimes hostile nature that keeps a human ego in check in a way that I treasure and crave. The big open skies feel familiar and so do the contrasting seasons, and a very unique mix of people whom all together weave an intricate tapestry of perspectives on connectivity to land and time. I will also spend a few days out there on horseback, which is arguably the best way to take it all in.

Maison Jar is truly one of my favorite stores in Brooklyn; I am so grateful to the wonderful people there stocking great produce and dry goods for almost all our day-to-day needs, but without all the wasteful packaging and pre-measured quantities normal grocery stores offer. Alongside the local farmers market, this place is all I need to cook all week.

Floating Mountain, Tea Dealers and Kettl are all warming and calming treasures of New York.

I could mention so many favorite artists, some of whom are also dear friends; D Ansara, Trey Moseley, Kevin Cannon, Dione Roach, Lee Rae Walsh, Alvin Armstrong, Lea Maltese, Moch Hahn, Clementine Robertson, Nicholas Shurey, Sarah Nsikak, Agnieszka Owsiany, Maja Escher and Johnny Ortiz to name a few that are absolutely worth looking into if you do not know their work already!

I seek and soak in information, in writing, as imagery or podcasts, from the weekly newspapers on the door to special photo books. I can spend forever in a bookstore or lost in a friend’s bookshelves, and I constantly internally apologize to my partner for having to live amongst piles of publications. Some favorite sources are usually odd vintage stores, but also Libraryman, Head Hi, Mast Books,Iconic Magazines,Fitcarraldo Editions, New Mags, Leaves, and Ofr.

The Time Sensitive Podcast by The Slowdown is my go-to ear and mind fuel in-flight and on-the-go. It has so many good conversations.

Open ended: Recommend anything else that you’d like others to know, think about, or do!

Lately I have been thinking a lot about a quote I wrote down from listening to Gordon Hempton, who is an acoustic ecologist and sound recordist having spent most of his life capturing the sounds of the natural world. He said that “silence is the presence of time, undisturbed.” I carry this with me these days.

Thank you for joining us on Thinking, Naturally. You can find more from Elevine here & here.

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