Fritz Nordengren

Documentary Storyteller and Photojournalist

Category: Single frames

1 and done

  • A Bonus Frame from the Top 10  Photos Fujifilm  X100T Story

    A Bonus Frame from the Top 10 Photos Fujifilm X100T Story

    This one is a bonus. A lost frame.


    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot.

    My preferred crop of the image of 3 men waiting for a walk light.

    I recently shared my top 10 favorite frames taken with the Fujifilm X100T. As I was getting ready for another post on a different camera, I found this old photo—a reduced JPEG I had sent from the camera to my phone.

    It seems like it was on a card that was never imported into Lightroom. Maybe it was lost or deleted for use on a project.

    I used to seeing the man in the middle during my daily drive. But in May 2017, I caught him and two others waiting for a walk light at an intersection.

    Take a look at the full-frame photo below – you can see the car window frame.

    Kind of a reverse “evolution of man” sequence.

    Camera: Fujifilm X100T, shot made possible with the assistance of power windows and having a camera at my side,

  • Details: a medical chart in Guatemala

    Details: a medical chart in Guatemala

    The small slips of paper passed between medical team members in a village in rural, Guatemala.


    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    An easy way to communicate the patient’s medical complaints. This paper was a small family being seen together, condensed.

    To me, it’s a photograph of metaphors, and says so many things on its own or as part of the bigger story of need and help.

    35 mm film

  • India Street  Barber

    India Street Barber

    While taking a break from capturing medical students on a mission in India, I stumbled upon a street barber in the middle of a customer’s shave.


    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    The image was of an homage of sorts.

    Before this India project, I had just spent a few days hanging out with award winning photojournalist Mark Hertzberg in Racine, Wisconsin. I was working on a video for Behind the Viewfinder – A Year in the Life of Photojournalism, and I took some photos of him as he went about his daily assignments.

    On this street in India, I had this idea to make a little tribute to him. You see, I remembered Mark taking a photo of a local barber who was closing down his decades-old shop.

    I actually made this frame to send on to Mark, and when I saw it, it became one of my personal favorites.

    35mm film Canon A-1

  • Outside the Cafe, Pamplona 2016

    Outside the Cafe, Pamplona 2016

    This is a “sister” shot to Table for 2, Dinner for 1, although taken a few days apart.

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    I hiked into Pamplona from Zabaldika on a chilly morning. I stopped by a bakery near the government building. There, I saw a woman sitting outside with her coffee. Between us was a shop window covered in sunscreen. In the first photo I took of her, she was about to flip through the newspaper.

    The Lightroom “contact sheet” of the frames.

    More photos from this project are in Camino de Santiago.

    And in the Fujifilm X100T Favorite Images portfolio.

    Details: Fuji X-100T fixed 23 mm 1/900 f/6.4

  • Table for 2, Dinner for 1, Bilbao, 2016

    Table for 2, Dinner for 1, Bilbao, 2016


    The nearly silent leaf shutter is always a bonus.

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot.

    I was at dinner with long-time photography friend Brett Payne, in old-town Bilbao. I glanced up and noticed the table next to us. I didn’t want to intrude or break the mood as the diner lost himself in the painting. I kept my camera on the table and estimated the framing.

    More photos from this project are in Camino de Santiago.

    A Lightroom Contact sheet

    Details: Fuji X-100T fixed 23 mm 1/60 f/2

  • Cafe Studio 2020

    Cafe Studio 2020

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    Shooting a portrait for a magazine cover, I had just set and tested the lights. The studio for the day was a closed-campus cafe. As a cafe, the high ceilings and a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows offered a great midday atmosphere.

    But the direct sun was too harsh for a photo shoot.

    I walked to lower the blinds to darken the room as clouds covered the sun. I looked back at the set. The softened light through the windows now was perfect. So I killed the studio strobe remote and shot natural light.

    I streamed the session to an iPad where the art director and editor could see images as they happened.

    See more of my editorial work in my portfolio.

    Details: Canon 5d MK4, 85mm

  • Behind the Facade, Las Vegas, 2024

    Behind the Facade, Las Vegas, 2024

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    The Las Vegas strip, especially at night, is begging to be photographed. Outside of the neon and LED-fueled glitz, it is at its heart, a town in the desert. The late January setting sun lights up the buildings and the mountains.

    This is the view from the back of Harrrah’s. It could be any desert oasis town except for the giveaway shadow of the “High Roller” falling across The Sphere.

    This light lasted 3 or 4 minutes, before the shadows changed the moment was gone.

    Details: iPhone SE (2022)

  • Stopped in Traffic, Ecuador, 2000

    Stopped in Traffic, Ecuador, 2000

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    We were stopped in traffic in Cuenca, Ecuador.

    It was the late afternoon in February 2000. Perry, a medical student had just finished a hectic shift in the obstetrics, labor and delivery wards of a public hospital.

    I was mid-way through a 2 week embed with the sponsoring NGO. I had some solid frames, some so-so frames. I was still regretting the “one that got away”. It was an image of a doctor listening to a fetal heat beat with an ear trumpet. I missed the shot because I was paying attention to the patient and not the scene.

    I looked to my left and saw the light on Perry as he rested. I chose to focus on the outside traffic, and keep the Perry soft. A reflection of the day of feeling like everything was happening around us.

    Other work for NGO’s and nonprofits is featured in this story.

    Details: Canon A-1 and a 50 mm f/1.4. Color slide, edited to black and white.

  • Back to School

    Back to School

  • My Office View

    My Office View

    56 degrees at 7 am, a great time to stop and appreciate the view.