Sivert Almvik Photography

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The king is dead

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Sivert Almvik
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On Friday the 28th of August His Majesty the King, Harald V died. The day before his death, I was outside the Royal Palace to document people showing their respect.

I went straight from work and was at the Palace Square at 15:15. Even then, there were quite a few people there, but the number of people increased as people finished work and went to the Palace Square to pay their respects to King Harald V, a king whom the vast majority referred to as «a grandfather» and «the people’s king».

Before I left work, I thought about whether it was okay for me to document people mourning. I am not a press photographer with special accreditation, but I am a street and documentary photographer.

I was 9 back in 1991 when King Olav V, Harald V’s dad, passed away. Because I was so young, I barely remember a thing about it all, apart from us getting the day off school that day in January. So, I really wasn’t sure how people would react down at the Palace Square.

On the bus from work to the Palace, I agreed with myself on these ethics:

  1. I can take pictures since it is in public and it is a special situation in Norwegian history.
  2. I shall not take pictures of people who are visibly upset (crying), or in other ways showing signs that they are mourning.
  3. I can take all other pictures.

I ended up being there for almost three hours.

Here are the pictures I took of the people who gathered:

Seen from above, people carrying bouquets climb the steps up to the palace square, with crowds walking up behind them.
People sit and rest on the plinth of the Karl Johan equestrian statue, inscribed «Folkets kjærlighet min belønning» (eng.: The love of the people is my reward).
A worker in a hi-vis vest rides an orange boom lift along the palace facade while a guard from His Majesty The King's Guard crosses the empty square.
A crowd stands in front of the Royal Palace; a woman holds a red rose while others talk and use their phones.
People gathered at the top of the palace hill, with Karl Johans gate below packed with more on their way up.
Below the Karl Johan statue, a man carries red roses through the crowd on the palace square.
People queue on the palace square holding single roses, several looking at their phones while they wait.
Three people holding white roses look at a phone together in the crowd of bicycles outside the Palace.

I noticed that there was not a large press presence, which I had expected. I saw journalists from NRK, Nettavisen, Dagbladet, A-media and Swedish TV4. They stayed in the background, did some “stand-ups”, and everyone was dressed in black and they seemed to be considerate of people when they asked for interviews.

Here are pictures I took of the press at the Palace Square:

TV crews set up tripods in front of the Royal Palace while a reporter rehearses; crowds fill the square behind.
Reporters and camera operators wait by their tripods on the palace square.
Onlookers film with phones as a reporter goes live beside the long row of flowers laid out at the Palace.
A reporter waits alone with a microphone by an empty tripod along the palace wall, a police officer nearby.
Spectators line the square as a reporter is filmed beside the long line of flowers; a boom lift stands by the Palace.
A row of television cameras on tripods lines the park edge by the Palace, crews waiting beside carts of equipment.
An NRK reporter interviews a man on the palace square while people walk past and the crowd waits behind them.
A couple check a phone as a cameraman with a shoulder camera and boom pole walks past across the square.
Two press photographers work along the long line of flowers on the square, one bending low over the bouquets.
A woman kneels to lay flowers on the square while press photographers and onlookers watch from a distance.
Seen from behind the crowd, a cameraman films the flowers laid on the square in front of the Palace.
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About the author:

Sivert Almvik
I’m a street and documentary photographer living in Oslo, Norway. I’ve been taking photos since 2001, and this is my little «old school» space on the internet.

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