A winter country caught off guard

I took this on my way to work at Solli plass. It was snowing properly, the kind of snowfall that used to be ordinary in February. Someone was running across the tram tracks. A bus waited in the background. People stood around, unsure if their tram was coming or not.

I didn’t notice until I got home that the autofocus had missed. Sometimes the camera gets it wrong and the image gets it right. The softness turns the scene into something closer to how the moment felt. Cold, windy, uncertain.

Norwegians like to say that snow is just part of life here. That we’re born with skis on our feet. The first part might still be true. The second is becoming less so every year.

Climate change has made proper snowfall rare enough in Oslo that when it actually happens, the city doesn’t quite know what to do. Buses stop. Trams slow down. People who grew up shovelling driveways now stare at the sky like they’ve forgotten what this is. We got used to the new normal faster than we’d like to admit.

Everyone else was waiting for the tram. This one decided to run.

Series: 28 days in monochrome

I once tried shooting an entire year in black and white. It didn’t last. In February 2026, I tried again, this time limiting myself to just one month. This is one of the images from that challenge.

• Apparently some of them bring furniture

Mar 13, 2026

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by

Sivert Almvik

in Blog

An older man boards an Oslo tram carrying a rocking chair and a pair of skis. It might be the most Norwegian photo I’ve ever taken.

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• His hands never left his pockets

Mar 14, 2026

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by

Sivert Almvik

in Blog

A couple show their love for each other outside Oslo Central Station on a cold February night. In a city where public affection is rare, they didn’t seem to care.

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• A winter country caught off guard

Mar 30, 2026

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by

Sivert Almvik

in Blog

It snowed in Oslo. In February. You’d think that would be normal. It isn’t anymore.

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