Torkil Stavdal (b. 1974) is a Norwegian photographer and curator currently residing in New York. At the age of 12, Torkil's grandmother gifted him a Kodak Instamatic 126, and he has not stopped taking photos since. In the mid-90's, after studying photography more formally in Copenhagen, he continued his education by assisting iconic photographers such as Knut Bry, Johan Wildhagen and Massimo Leardini, amongst others. Originally based out of Oslo, Norway, he started his studio "Konfekt" in the early 2000s with Lars Pettersen, Catarina Caprino and Tove Sivertsen. In 2009, Torkil moved to NYC and worked with a number of editorial and commercial clients, including: the New York Times, Elle, Dwell, Apple, VW, Bollinger Motors and Pollack Associates. In 2011, he added motion to his repertoire, and has since worked on shows and movies with Netflix, Lionsgate, BBC, the History Channel and several others. Torkil appreciates the unspoken in a photograph; that there is a story that the spectator gets to finish.

In this episode, Torkil and I chat about nature taking back human occupied spaces, the functionality and use of objects (or lack thereof), the photo as a conversation starter, finding your play space, and keeping his art practice going. You can find the gate photo Torkil references in our conversation on our instagram page ⁠here.