IV THE LOGGERS

NORWAY - June, 2016
This is where Norway ends and Russia begins. The Øvre Pasvik National Park lies in both countries; it is the most north-westerly point of a huge belt of taiga that spans the north of Russia.

Ben-Arne Sotkajærvi saws the wood for the whole valley. He positions the long trunks in a clamp and then pushes them against the circular saw, which cuts through the wood as if it were butter. In the winter Sotkajærvi uses snow scooters to drag the trunks to his sawmill, where he saws them up in the spring: the most desirable parts become planks, and the lesser sections sawdust.