Meet Per Norberg | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Per Norberg and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Per, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I’ve always viewed risk as secondary as every important decision in my life has been made based on intuition or “gut feeling” rather than any set of logics. I just know.. I think it’s important to note that most people in society today actually base their decisions on fear than dreams and I don’t think that’ll lead neither to happiness, self fulfillment or to reaching anyones full potential. Following your heart is following your dreams. It’s not always the easy way but it gives content and the way I see risk (upside/downside) there’s really not a huge downside if you do what you feel is right or love. Failure gets less daunting in that scenario. I once met a man who wanted to make a movie and he saved and saved to be able to make the pilot. He thought he couldn’t risk it all on that very pilot so decided to invest the money in an ice-cream shop that was modelled after a very successful franchise. Unfortunately he ended up losing all his savings as the ice-cream shop went out of business after a while. So, he ran out of money and killed his dream. I would say the risk would have been higher betting all his savings on the movie but at least then he’d be content knowing he tried his best att following a dream… There are no guarantees in life. So go after your dreams.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m most proud of having made the journey by following my heart! If I could tell my 15 year old self the story of my career he would 100% never believe me. Growing up in a small town in the north of Sweden pre-youtube with an early days of internet I didn’t have the world at my feet. Having been to Miami/FL with my parents I knew one day I wanted to live in the states. I always loved being creative and would draw/paint and play music growing up and becoming a rock-star was the ultimate goal. Fast forward having played in bands and struggled to make a living from this I was scouted and ended up modeling walking the runway for iconic brands – mostly based in Milano. For two years I thought I had the life of my dreams but realized what really caught my interest was the creative part. Not the modeling. I got to study some of the best photographers in the world and realized this was something I wanted to do too. Life had other plans and next I was asked to be part of the cast in an early version of “American Idol” for the Swedish market. So music took off again and I got to live out all those dreams about playing big shows with the cast of the show. Shortly after though my home studio got stolen and with it all the songs I had ever written. So, without knowing where to go I borrowed a camera from a friend and I’d like to say the rest is history as from that moment on not only did I love photography more than anything else but assignments and request came in immediately. It was like the camera choose me more than I chose it… Some 20 years later living in Los Angeles working with the most amazing brands and biggest shoots in the Automotive/Lifestyle business I feel truly blessed. I really want to urge any young person to follow their dreams – at all cost. However be open to the idea the path that unfolds might not be the one you have in mind or what you envisioned. Trust the process. Follow the flow!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Venice and the dream for me was always to be close to the beach. I feel when friends visit they are usually wanting to hang out in Venice and Santa Monica. I’ll definitely take them my fave spots around those two areas but my agenda is to always show what they don’t know about. I love an early morning hike up Los Leones and a drive up the coast from there to Malibu to have lunch at Broad street oyster company. A drive through some of our amazing canyons is a must and an afternoon stop for coffee at Topanga Living Cafe is always appreciated. Driving back down the coast for sunset is iconic and getting dinner at Café gratitude on Rose ave is appreciated for most of my plant based friends. Another hike I’ll always take my friends on is Runyon Canyon. I mean you can’t skip that if you’re visting LA. I also usually start the day there to then explore West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Driving through Beverly Hills is always fun for anyone new to L A and a stop at Erewhon to get some smoothies is a must. I also would show most of my friends my fave studio OPEN (Yoga/Mixed modality) in Venice which is on Market street. The space is just incredible and the teachers and classes are top tier. I’m a very active person so a bike ride down to Manhattan beach through Marina Del Rey is also always a fund little adventure and I love stopping for lunch at the HIVE in MDR. Those are some of my fave things to do and to show people.Oh, for anyone into cars I always take them to Angels Crest HWY for some inspired driving.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe a lot of my success to “The Power of Now” by Eckart Tolle. When first reading this book at the end of the 90’s I was in a really bad place in life. I was suffering from illness, surgery and overall anxiety for life. I was self medicating by drinking too much alcohol and being a musician at the time that was an easy daily practice for me unfortunately. This book though became a turning point realizing trauma can be set free. Right here and right now we actually can access everything we want and we need. I’ve re-read this book many times and realized how it shaped my life from that part and also how it guided me to some of the most important connections and people in my life. Highly recommend reading it.

Website: https://www.pernoberg.com

Instagram: iampernorberg

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iampernorberg/

Image Credits
These images where shot with my colleague Dejan Sokolovski and through my agents Gloss Reps (USA) and Severin Wendeler (EU).