Letter #3: Is Snow just Snow, Snowy Prints, Chris Pierce, Polar Bears, Upcoming S(n)how
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GREGERS HEERING PHOTOGRAPHY
Welcome to Letter #3.
Living in Los Angeles, I always miss the snow at this time of year. The theme of this letter is therefore… SNOW!
You’re receiving this because you’re either family, a friend or simply someone who has expressed interest and support of my work. I’m grateful for the gradual building of this little community- thanks for sticking around :-)
The continuous aim is not only to share updates and offers as it relates to my work but to share with you what has recently inspired me. I hope it can be of value to you too and provide a breather from your busy life.
In this Letter #3, you will find-
1. Some *thoughts on Why Snow isn’t just Snow,
2. Get into the snowy groove with a Small Selection of Snowy Photographs / Silver Prints,
3. Meet the soulful Chris Pierce,
4. Upcoming show at Gallery Christoffer Egelund, December 12th, 2025 - February 13th, 2026.*
5. Going back to Greenland…
1. WHY SNOW ISN’T ‘JUST’ SNOW
The first time I learned that ‘snow isn’t just snow’ was when I read the Danish author Peter Høgh’s novel ‘Frøken Smillas Fornemmelse for Sne’ (‘Miss Smilla’s Sense of Snow’). You may recall this book which was published in 1992 and catapulted Høgh onto the international scene. ‘Smilla’ was later made into a Hollywood movie. The book is better as often is the case.
The main character, *Smilla Qvist*, grew up in Greenland. She has an extraordinary, almost scientific, vocabulary for snow. She doesn’t just *see* snow as weather; she reads it like a language on its own, a record of time, movement, and human behavior.
Here’s a few examples of major *types of snow* and how Smilla experiences them-
“Qanik” – Large, soft crystals that fall gently,
“Pukak” – Fine, powdery snow formed by wind; almost dust like. She notes that you can ‘blow it off your mittens like flour’,
“Nilak” – Fresh, young ice you can still chew; she often mentions it when interpreting safety on sea ice.
Using snow as a forensic tool, Smilla’s Greenlandic upbringing gives her a unique skill set. She treats snow as evidence, *reconstructing moments almost microscopically*. This ability ultimately drives the investigation, allowing her to uncover the conspiracy behind the mysterious death at the heart of the story.
If you haven’t read the book, maybe the upcoming Holidays is a good occasion to slow down a bit, turn off your phone and zone into ‘Smilla’s Sense of Snow’. It’s a slow burner but slow burning is good.
2. SOME SNOWY PHOTOGRAPHS / (SILVER) PRINTS
The below images were all photographed on film. I make the prints - in hand - on beautiful silver gelatin paper (aka ‘silver prints’) in the traditional dark room.
I prefer to work with ‘real’, physical materials and I enjoy 100% analogue process where no two prints will be identical. The print making process typically takes 2-3 days, including drying and pressing.
Confused about what a silver print is (if not, you can skip this part)?
Contrary to a digital pigment print where a digital file is sent to a high-end printer that utilizes tiny ‘jets’ to apply ink onto the paper, the traditional darkroom print is made from exposing light through the film negative onto a light sensitive paper known as silver gelatin paper, hence ‘silver print’. Light sensitive paper uses silver halides suspended in a gelatin emulsion to create black and white images.
After an image is exposed onto the paper, a chemical developer is used to make the latent image visible, and a fixing solution is used to make it permanent.
Prints are then washed and dried for about 24 hours before they can be hot pressed to flatten the fibers of the paper.
Silver prints have a long longevity (if handled well) and are rich in tonality and depth. They offer a different viewing experience not unlike the difference between listening to an album on vinyl rather than streaming it digitally.
A different feeling, a different experience.
Click images/titles for more info
3. CHRIS PIERCE
Recently, I had the pleasure of photographing singer/songwriter Chris Pierce.
Chris is not only an extradionary artist, he is a sacred soul. For the photo session, we spent a day in the neighborhood of the old Pasadena, California, where Chris grew up. We visited his childhood home where we made photographs of Chris playing outside the house. We visited his uncle’s house where the above image was made. Later, we made some additional photographs further up the hills where the recent fires took away everything.
To witness Chris perform is not just a performance, it’s a transcendental experience. Maybe that’s why Neil Young himself (who just turned 80) chose Chris to support him on Young’s most recent tour.
You don’t really get much higher than that.
I felt very special to be allowed into Chris’s personal world and witness him share his entire range of emotions in front of the camera. These are the kind of portrait sessions I live for.
You can see some of the work we did here
Chris has a new album coming out early next year. In the meantime, check him out (link to his website is further down in this letter) wherever you find your music these days. He’s the real deal.
Chris Pierce on Spotify here
His website here
4. UPCOMING SHOWINGS
I’m super stoked to be showing work at this year’s X-MAS 2025 Group Show @ Gallery Christoffer Egelund in Copenhagen.
Christoffer and his crew are really good at putting these shows together. There’s always also just a nice energy there - and as we all know, good energy attracts good energy. Please come check it out.
Opens December 12th, 2025 and is up till February 13th, 2026.
For more information, please contact Gallery Christoffer Egelund.
By the way… This is what it looked like at ENTER Art Fair, Copenhagen, back in August:
Pretty cool to be next to a Haring… :-)
Thank you again Secher Fine Art and ENTER Art Fair for having me!
5. BACK TO GREENLAND…
We opened with Greenland and we’re going to end with Greenland…
I just read this thought provoking piece ***‘One of the Greatest Polar Bear Hunters Confronts a Vanishing World’** featuring Ragnar Axelsson’s amazing photography in the New Yorker Magazine. If you’re interested in Greenland, or simply the Arctics, this is a brutally honest insight into the collision between the old and new Greenland.
**Apple News **link** **[here](https://apple.news/ATRP4lozhQzeQDFHNeo1bOg) and **New Yorker Magazine** link [here](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/12/01/one-of-the-greatest-polar-bear-hunters-confronts-a-vanishing-world)
With that in mind and…
‘TIL NEXT TIME…
Thanks as always for reading. Wishing you and your loved ones
Happy Holidays and all the best for 2026.
Warmest, Gregers
