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October 11, 2005
Pistil magazine feature: artist Peter Beste
It's difficult to imagine anything beautiful about Norwegian Black Metal, the noisy, bizarre, pagan-influenced heavy metal genre that emerged in the early 1990s — bands with names like Darkthrone and Mayhem, covered in thick makeup called "corpse paint." They burned historical churches in an effort to purge Christianity from Norway and return to their Viking heritage, and the scene nearly self-destructed when the bands' violent tendencies led to several high-profile murders.
Yet Brooklyn-based photographer Peter Beste, who has been documenting Norwegian Black Metal for four years, has created a stunning collection of iconic portraits that crystallize the essence of a chaotic movement.
His subjects are theatrical and gruesome, challenging the viewer to take them seriously in spite of their penchant for fake blood, spikes, and medieval-sounding stage names. In many photographs, Beste brilliantly contextualizes Black Metal by capturing its stars in Norway's majestic natural environment — among forests, caves, and shimmering lakes.
Beste has had solo exhibitions in London, New York, San Francisco, Austin, Tokyo, Oslo, and Bergen — and will be exhibiting in Chicago this August. His photography has appeared in The Face, American Photo, Spin, Graphic, XXL, and many other music/culture magazines. His book of Norwegian Black Metal photographs was released this year in Japan.
More of Beste's work can be seen at www.peterbeste.com.
Posted by audreypillow at October 11, 2005 2:51 PM