Tyheim

Vidar Korneliussen, aka Tyheim is a Norwegian contemporary photographer whose work exists at the intersection of art and documentary.

Blending the raw immediacy of street portraiture with a deeply artistic sensibility, his images are both expressive works of photographic art and unflinching documents of urban life. They are shaped by the emotional and aesthetic concerns of art, yet grounded in the observational precision of documentary photography. Rather than explain or label, he explores the human condition in all its complexity, always with a distinctly documentary undertone.

Drawn to the raw and often overlooked individuals who inhabit the urban landscape, Tyheim captures the textures of real life: faces marked by experience, expressions suspended between vulnerability and defiance. Each portrait becomes a study in presence, cutting through pretense to reveal something deeply human.

Working with a Leica M11, he approaches the street as both stage and canvas. His photographs don’t simply document; they immerse the viewer in an unvarnished reality, at once beautiful and brutal. Through this lens, fleeting encounters become powerful visual narratives, steeped in authenticity and emotional resonance.

A man with a tattoo on his side, showing a Nazi eagle and swastika, lifts his shirt to reveal it, while smiling at the camera on a city street.
A shirtless man with tattoos, including a wolf on his chest, sitting and smiling in a rustic room.
A woman with disheveled hair and bruises on her face, wearing a letterman jacket, stands in front of a red and beige backdrop.

From the Ukraine Project
Portraits shaped by the quiet tremors of Odesa, where lives drift along the edges of a city at war.

Black Depression

Photobook: In Progress

Kensington, Philadelphia is one of the most brutal neighborhoods in the United States. It’s a place torn apart by fentanyl, street violence, poverty, and systemic failure. Homicides are common. Overdoses happen in the open. People live, and often collapse, on the sidewalks. The atmosphere is heavy, desperate, and raw.

This photobook is shaped by that depression and disintegration. It reflects what it feels like to stand inside that world: close, uncomfortable, and real, yet strangely vibrant, colorful, and, in its own way, beautiful. These are visual expressions of despair, not explanations of it. Nothing is staged. Nothing is embellished. This is art pulled from the edge.

A man in a tan jacket and black knit cap standing under a bridge on a rainy day, with a woman holding an umbrella in the background near a chain-link fence and a graffiti-covered pillar.
A man with a beard wearing a black puffy jacket standing outdoors on a rainy night, with urban buildings and cars in the background.
A woman with red hair, wearing a black beanie and dark jacket, looks upward with a distressed expression. She stands in front of a black metal fence.
A woman with dark hair, tattoos, and makeup posing in front of a white wall, wearing a brown fringe jacket, a gray crop top, and pearl bracelet.
Young man with blue eyes and a beard, standing against a textured wall, wearing a black zip-up jacket, with facial tattoos including a heart and the word 'Fokus.'
A man with long blonde hair, tattoos, and a distressed facial expression, wearing a white T-shirt that reads 'ZOMBIES!' in blood-spattered letters, standing against a dark background.
Black Depression

Tiraspol

Project

I spent day after day walking the streets of Tiraspol, from early morning until nightfall, moving through a place that exists in political limbo yet pulses with everyday life.

Pridnestrovie, also known as Transnistria: unrecognized by the world, but deeply real to those who call it home. Backed by Russia and cut off from the global banking system. No Visa. No Mastercard. Only the Transnistrian ruble. Life moves slowly here. The streets are calm, the city meticulously clean, and time seems to stretch, unhurried, almost generous.

Everywhere, you are surrounded by Soviet-era brutalism: raw concrete structures, monumental in scale, stoic in their silence. The architecture speaks of a past that never left. The Soviet legacy isn’t just remembered here; it’s lived. You feel it in the geometry of the buildings, in the stillness, in the rhythm of daily life. And yet, layered over the weight of the past is something oddly modern, quirky, out of place, almost surreal. A strange blend of past and present. It’s not nostalgia. It’s presence.

An elderly man with gray hair and beard, wearing a gray blazer, appears to be sneezing or coughing into his hand while standing outdoors on a sunny day with cars and trees in the background.
A young woman with a pink bandana and earrings standing in front of a red and black bus.
Tiraspol

Books

On the Bookshelf

Tyheim’s photobooks cut straight to the bone, raw portraits of city life that most people walk past without a second glance. Each image drags the overlooked into the spotlight, exposing the grit, tension, and quiet dignity etched into every face. These aren’t just photographs; they’re fragments of the human condition, unfiltered and unapologetically real.

A man with a beard and mustache, wearing a brown jacket with a shearling collar, a yellow scarf, and a cap, making a cranky face with one eye closed, sitting outdoors with vans and a woman walking past him in the background.
A young woman with long blond hair and gothic-style jewelry sitting on a park bench with her legs crossed, holding a fluffy bag, in an urban setting during evening or late afternoon.
Books

Gothenburg Faces

Photobook

For over a year, Tyheim has roamed the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden. His photobook Gothenburg Faces delves into the city's soul. Each page offers a visceral journey through portraits that reveal the often-overlooked beauty of everyday encounters.

Featuring more than 50 images, this book is more than just a collection of photographs. It’s a powerful narrative steeped in authenticity, breathing life into the raw human essence of Gothenburg.

Line of people waiting outside a store with a glass storefront. A woman with styled hair and leather jacket is in the foreground, while other women and an elderly man are in line behind her. The store has books and toys visible inside.
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Plur Blow

Photobook

Get pulled into the sweat-soaked heart of rave culture with this forthcoming photobook, a collision of flash, flesh, and fevered rhythm. These images hit hard, capturing the split-second chaos of nights lived at full volume. Every frame is a punch of reality: no filters, no staging, just the pulse of the underground laid bare in all its beautiful disorder.

A woman in a pink patterned shirt kissing a shirtless man while another woman in a blue bikini looks on.
Woman with long blonde hair, wearing pink sunglasses and an orange top, holding a smartphone, against a black background.
A group of people at a party or concert with tattoos and hats, standing in front of a dark background.
Plur Blow

Curated Works

Limited Edition

Each artwork is part of a curated edition of 200, created in collaboration with leading curators from around the world. Crafted in Stockholm on Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta, these artworks unite exceptional craftsmanship with enduring archival quality.

Explore the collection and discover artworks produced with the care and permanence that define true collector’s editions.

A woman with tattoos on her chest and abdomen lifting her shirt to show a large tattoo of a stylized owl on her stomach.
Four young women with dark hair are closely gathered, looking downward, with a background showing a pavement with some text and people standing.
A disheveled man with a beard and light-colored eyes outdoors at night, wearing a black jacket with a shiny, puffy vest underneath, standing under a structure with metal poles and cars in the background.
Person with tattoos wearing a Kansas industrial grade workwear T-shirt, standing outdoors on a city street near tram tracks and cars.
Two men wearing warm clothing and hoodies in an outdoor urban setting.
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