For his photo and film project Cold Hawaii, Simon Puschmann c/o UPFRONT travelled to the rugged northern coast of Denmark – a place where raw natural forces, solitude and endless horizons converge. The result is an atmospherically charged body of work that captures both the archaic character of the landscape and the sense of vastness and quiet focus in the face of the elements.
Cold Hawaii is in fact the official name for a stretch of coastline within Denmark’s Thy National Park. The region around Klitmøller, Vorupør and Agger is known for more than 30 surf spots, consistent winds and powerful North Sea swells – a kind of “Nordic Hawaii,” only with much colder temperatures.
For this project, Simon took on direction, cinematography and photography, creating a distinctly personal signature – raw, direct and unvarnished. He was supported on set by Finn Puschmann (assistant). In front of the camera – and on the board – stood Paul Jacinto, who faced the conditions of the Nordic coastline with quiet determination.
The combination of a documentary gaze, graphic compositions and a rhythmic filmic approach turns Cold Hawaii into an intense study of natural force, focus and human resilience. The complete project can be viewed on the photographer’s website.
They call it Cold Hawaii.
But names are only ever half true.
What matters is the silence—
the kind that hangs heavy
between the wind and the water.
