Sébastien Van Malleghem travelled to the northern reaches of Europe for his most recent series, shot in his customary high-contrast, black-and-white style. Striking landscapes unfurl side by side with intensely gripping portraits of Scandinavia’s resilient inhabitants. Even the brightest of these images seems drenched in darkness, their subjects ranging from rugged mountains and shining seascapes to parking lots, car interiors, and close, intimate encounters. The physical properties of the Nordic landscape and climate – weight, density, cold, heat, sharpness, wetness – virtually become tangible in the visual dialogue Van Malleghem offers to the viewer. Bold and unforgiving.