Postcard from Fetsund Timber Booms

This postcard was taken during a visit to Fetsund Lenser, Norway, on the edge of Northern Europe's largest inland delta, where Lake Nordre Øyeren spreads out into a landscape rich in birdlife and wildlife. Here, water has always been a route of travel. At Bingen Lenser in Sørumsand, one of the most important hubs of log driving for countless generations, all timber arriving via the Glomma River and its tributaries was gathered, sorted, and sent onward. 

Together with C, I move along the river through a landscape where 2.5 kilometers of history unfold in rhythm with nature itself. At Fetsund Lenser, the National Wetland Competence Center and the National Log Driving Museum have made it possible for culture and wetland to exist side by side; the buildings and log-driving installations stand as quiet witnesses to labor, craftsmanship, and community, while reeds, water, and birdlife fill the spaces in between with life.

The project has placed a clear emphasis on intangible cultural heritage, biodiversity and wetlands, and the sustainable management of historic buildings and log-driving facilities along the Glomma.