Grense Jakobselv, Norway

Despite its isolated location in Arctic Norway on the Russian border, Grense Jakobselv has been home to Sami ethnic groups, proselytising Lutherans, Novgorodian traders, German soldiers, and feuding Imperial Russian and Norwegian fishermen. Anyone who ventures to this uninhabited settlement today and wanders around its lifeless houses is guaranteed to appreciate the stillness and feel intrigued by the history that unfolded in this much-overlooked outpost on the edge of Europe. Below is a collection of Grense Jakobselv photos taken during a 2014 visit.

The quiet hamlet is a 3-hour drive from Kirkenes and it’s the most north-easterly point of mainland Europe, overlooking Russia’s border. Separating both the countries is the 45km-long Jakobselva River, which is rumoured to be an excellent salmon fishing river.  If you accidentally step over the border marker into no-man’s-land, the Norwegian border guards will fire blank warning shots! If you ever visit the Finnmark region, or you’re going to or from Russia’s Kola Peninsula, and have your own transport, it’s worth stopping by the area to check out the scenery. There’s also the King Oscar II chapel that’s worth seeing. It was built in 1869 as a way for Norway to reinforce its territorial claim over Russia. 

Click here to read more about the history of the area and to see images taken by Norwegian photographer Ellisif Wessel in the early 20th century. Norway’s Preus Museum has a comprehensive album of Wessel’s work available to view here. Aside from shooting a series of Grense Jakobselv photos, she also documented the everyday life of the Skolt Sámi people who live in the area and whose lives were undergoing a rapid transition from the newly emerging iron ore mining industry developing in the area. You can also read more about Wessel and the work of other early era photographers that specialised in Sámi culture via my History Today story.

A frontside shot of a wooden boat storage hut in Grense Jakobselv.
A wooden cross in Grense Jakobselv reads Ber He Iverdaller Died 1888.
A survey point atop of a rock overlooking the Barents Sea.
King Oscar II chapel in Grense Jakobselv, with a 19th-century graveyard in foreground.
An old wooden door with two padlocks and a rusting door knocker.
A single cross casts a shadow over the Arctic tundra in Grense Jakobselv near Russia's border.
A tidal shoreline in the early morning with faint Northern Lights overhead.
A close-up of a fence covered in barbed wire beside the beach in Grense Jakobselv.
Distant mountains cast a reflection the tidal bay of the Jakobselv River.
Frontside shot of an unused red house on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
A frontside shot of a white shiplap constructed house, with a red roof and brown door.
A stone cairn on a beach, near Nordkapp, the most northerly point in mainland Europe.
A small pastel green hut with a little window and white door in Grense Jakobselv.
A line of boulders on a tidal shoreline extend out into the Barents Sea.
Side shot of an abandoned Norwegian fishing hut.
Close-up of boarded-up window of an old Norwegian hut.
A mid-shot of an abandoned, wood-built fisherman's hut.
Close-up of red and pink Arctic berries.
Wide angle view of Jakobselv River's tidal bay, with Russia on the leftside.
The mouth of the Jakobselv River, next to the border of Russia.
Frontside shot of a single boarded up window in a small wooden house.
An Arctic river in Norway's Sør-Varanger region.
Small waves crashing on the rocks in northern Norway.
A tiny red hut and abandoned cookware left in the open Norwegian tundra.
An abandoned hut on the edge of the Barents Sea in Grense Jakobselv.
Black and white photo of the front of an abandoned house with four windows.
A quiet and isolated Norwegian fjord with a hanging valley and glacier in the distance.
The inside of an old hut filled with disused fishing equipment in Grense Jakobselv.
Close-up photo of a barnacle encrusted rock at sea on the Barents Sea.
Wide shot of Jakobselv River tidal bay next to Russia's border.
A red house stands alone on the sun-drenched tundra in northern Norway.
A man in the distance stood atop a rock overlooking a remote valley beside the Arctic Ocean.
A man with a backpack crouched beside the shore of an Arctic Norway river.
Frontside photo of a red house with blue window frames.
A black and white image of a man stood beside a Norwegian hut and smiling.
A line of tidal rocks, seen at sunset, disappears in to the Barents Sea.

My photography has been published in the following outlets:

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