Picturing World Cultures: Naina Helén Jåma – Norwegian Sami

In today’s podcast, we’ll be talking with Norwegian photographer Naina Helén Jåma about her documentation of indigenous South Sami culture in Norway and her career as a press photographer in Scandinavia. Jåma details her childhood growing up in the small rural village of Snasa, where, at the age of 15, she began her career while working as a cultural interpreter and archivist at the Saemien Sijte Museum.  From there, Naina takes us on a journey through her fascinating career as a photographer, from her training at the Nordic School of Photography to her work for world-renowned publications such as The New York Times, Bloomberg, and The Guardian Alongside her journalistic work, Naina maintains a close relationship with the traditional Sami arts of Duodji. Documenting the ongoing development of this art form pays tribute to oral knowledge and silent tradition, which is learned and transmitted visually.

Above photograph © Naina Helén Jåma

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Guest: Naina Helén Jåma

Episode Timeline:

2:23: Naina’s early childhood and growing up in Snåsa, a small village in Norway with approximately 2,000 inhabitants.

6:14: Naina’s first job and the start of her career, working as a cultural archivist at the Saemien Sijite Museum.

10:44: How photographing handcrafted Sami items became Naina’s thesis while enrolled at the Nordic School of Photography

14:45: Discussing different aspects and signifiers of traditional Sami clothing.

19:40: The eight different seasons of Sami culture.

22:06: Discussing the role and influence of animism and other traditional Sami belief systems.

28:18: Episode Break

29:40: Naina’s go-to kit for cameras and lenses

33:10: Tips for shooting in cold climates and extreme conditions

35:14: Structuring documentation when working as a photojournalist 

39:49: Naina’s diverse reportage, from documenting the NATO summit to Sami youth protests due to windmill farms violating traditional reindeer hunting lands.

46:30: What Naina learned from her time working on the other side of the lens as a Director of Photography

49:26: “Man Borrows the Land from Future Generations”

53:06: Naina Helén Jåma answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Naina Helén Jåma is a South Sami photographer and storyteller from Snaasa in Norway, currently based in Oslo. After starting her career at the Saemien Sijte Museum at age 15, where she worked to interpret and preserve South Sami culture.

Naina has maintained a close relationship with the traditional Sami arts of Duodji. Documenting the ongoing development of this art form pays tribute to oral knowledge and silent tradition, which is learned and transmitted visually. Trained at the Nordic School of Photography in Sweden, Naina has worked as both a photojournalist and a photo editor for various Scandinavian newspapers and agencies, as well as major international publications such as The New York Times, Bloomberg and The Guardian.

Naina is a member of the Sami Artists Association, and in 2020 she received a working grant from the Sami Council. Most recently, she was selected by the Norwegian Journal of Photography as one of nine photographers to work on a two-year heritage project, where she will be photographing and doing in-depth interviews to investigate the evolving legacy of Sami culture.

Stay Connected: Naina Helén Jåma Website: https://www.nainahelen.com/ Naina Helén Jåma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nainahelen/  Naina