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.

Black Depression

Work 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.

Three people standing under a bridge on a rainy day, with one person holding a transparent umbrella and another holding a cane or stick, one person looking at the camera, and the other looking down.
A man with a beard and wet hair, wearing a dark jacket, standing under an overpass at night in a city street.
A woman with long reddish-brown hair, wearing a black beanie and a black jacket, with her mouth open and eyes looking upward, standing against a black metal fence, wearing a gray T-shirt with the words "I HATE MY JOB!" in black letters.
A woman with tattoos and a black hair cap, wearing a brown fringed jacket over a gray crop top, is standing against a plain wall. Her mouth is open and she has a surprised or expressive look.
A young man with a beard, tattoos on his face, and piercing blue eyes standing against a textured wall. He is wearing a black zip-up jacket and has a somber expression.
A homeless man with messy hair and a scruffy beard, wearing a red sweater, showing a severe and infected wound on his arm, sitting outside near a chain-link fence under dark, cloudy skies.
Man with long blonde hair and tattoos wearing a white T-shirt with 'ZOMBIES!' graphic, standing against a black wall.
Black Depression

Tiraspol

Work in Progress

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 in a gray jacket is outside during the daytime, holding his nose with a distressed expression, near a street with parked cars and a signboard with Russian text.
A man with a beard and mustache wearing a black Hackett sweatshirt, a black hat, and carrying a backpack, standing on a street with a white car passing by and a large sign for iClub in the background.
A man with a surprised or shocked expression, with one eye closed and mouth open, standing in front of a building with a sign in Cyrillic script.
Tiraspol

Plur Blow

Work in Progress

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.

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

Books

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.

Group of young women with dark hair bow their heads, possibly looking or listening to something on the ground on the street, with some people and street markings visible in the background.
A woman wearing a black mask and a tall hat that looks like a giant cupcake, dressed in a red and white costume. She is in a busy urban area at night with people walking and a large digital billboard in the background showing a scene of people playfully interacting.
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.

A woman with black hair carries shopping bags and looks directly at the camera on a busy city street during cloudy weather, surrounded by pedestrians.
Two young people with alternative fashion styles sitting in front of a glass window in an urban setting, with buildings and street reflections visible behind them.
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Prints

Curated Limited Editions

Each photograph is part of a curated edition of 400, created in collaboration with leading curators from around the world. Printed in Stockholm on Hahnemühle Fine Art Baryta, these works unite exceptional craftsmanship with enduring archival quality.

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

Person lifting their shirt to reveal a large tattoo on their abdomen, wearing a brown jacket, gray top, white pearl bracelet, and displaying multiple tattoos on their chest and hands.
A man with a beard and wet hair wearing a black jacket with a shiny, puffy vest underneath, standing outdoors at night near a metal pole.
Prints