I am a storyteller

My story

By Fritz Nordengren

I write what I can’t photograph, and photograph what I can’t write. Mostly, I pay attention.

My name is Fritz Nordengren, and I am novelist, award-winning producer, and multimedia storyteller. With a background in journalism, photography, and public health, my stories often showcase social change-driven narratives.

As a photojournalist, I documented US presidential caucuses and NGO medical relief efforts in 24 countries. My work is represented by Zuma Press.

I’m a curious soul. When time and curiosity meet, I try new things. I’ve built a cabin and two boats, and I even walked the Camino de Santiago.

My books

Dinner Club Diaries is a dialogue-driven ensemble novel about the conversations, connections, and acts of courage that define life’s second act.

Daniela Whitaker’s world is modest and contained: her teenage sons, her workdays, and the steady, familiar voice of radio host Frank Calloway keeping her company. A single call to his show leads her to a fundraising diner—and to a table shared with people she remembers, though time has reshaped them all.

Every Step is Gift Letters to My Children from the Camino de Santiago is my memoir of my (camera-less) 620-mile walking pilgrimage across Spain in 2013. It climbed quickly to Amazon’s top 10 in a couple of categories and remained in the top 100 for more than 4 years. It’s a book in great company as dozens of other writers have shared their Camino experiences.

I returned to Spain and photographed places that were meaningful in this photo story.

The challenge of writing a novel’s draft in one month led me to write my first novel, Concealed: The Book of Joshua. My goal was to sell 100 copies to total strangers. To date, it has had over 7,000 downloads and hard copy sales. I appreciate every reader’s response to the story and characters. The quasi-sequel Kolby Rae takes the characters and moves the storyline to Nashville within the life of a soon-to-be successful country music artist.

My back story

As a teenage journalism student with my dad’s 35 mm camera, naivety was my superpower. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Somehow during those rookie years, I landed a few commercial photojournalism assignments. I photographed three very different performers, Meat Loaf and Harry Chapin, comedian Gabe Kaplan, and stills on a B-Movie set.

After I graduated j-school, my business cards included job titles like litigation consultant, multimedia producer, account executive, editor, publisher, novelist, and contract photographer.

Along the way, projects I created for clients have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and Dotdash Meredith. I received awards and recognition from USA Today, the National Press Photographers Association, and the American Marketing Association.

At the center of those successes, I remain a documentary storyteller.

NGO Healthcare Storytelling

Much of my storytelling for NGOs centered around healthcare and healthcare access. As an academic in public health, I'm an observational researcher who blends will with my digital storyteller and photojournalist work. Health disparities are sometimes evident and visible. They often remain hidden from those who can do the most help while overwhelming to those in need.

As I traveled with medical, surgical, and public health teams, I sought out and captured still images and video content that told the stories to those who could help the most.

Healthcare

A mother talks about her children to a volunteer medical worker.

A volunteer medical staffer holds a hand written set of vitals for the next patient.

A reconstructive surgeon works to remove scar tissue to in a child’s arms to increase mobility in Armenia.

A surgeon takes a brief pause at the end of a day of surgery in a mobile operating room in Ecuador.

A mother soothes her child after surgery in Armenia.

A dental student holds a flashlight while a dentist examines a patient in Guatemala.

Zuma Press clippings

My photojournalism is represented by Zuma Press, started by photojournalists for photojournalists, now the world’s largest independent press agency and wire service.