Fritz Nordengren

Documentary Storyteller and Photojournalist

Tag: documentary photography

  • 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

  • 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

  • Dave Whitson’s Final Sprint to the Pacific Ocean

    Dave Whitson’s Final Sprint to the Pacific Ocean

    Dave Whitson pauses at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The rain cover over his backpack is dry, a remnant from earlier in the day. This beach on Cape Meares is the end of his coast-to-coast hike.

    I wrote a similar paragraph 3 years ago. This story is a sequel and a conclusion to his cross country walk that began February 25, 2020.

    Read the rest of the story in the Stories section

  • Go this way: Delaware to Oregon

    Go this way: Delaware to Oregon

    A single frame: Why and how I captured this shot

    I met Dave Whitson at an airport in Salisbury, Maryland in February of 2020. We had emailed about his cross-USA hike. He planned to hike from Delaware to the Pacific Ocean, walking daily, over the spring, summer, and fall that year.

    Derailed by COVID restrictions and work obligations, he paused in Cincinnati.

    I photographed his progress through Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio. This frame is taken early morning in Chesterville, Ohio in May of 2020. You can read the story of the first half of the journey here.

    In June this year, he returned to Cincinnati to compete the journey. I walked with him in Iowa. I also joined him on his final two days walking in Oregon. He finished his cross-USA hike at Cape Meares. I’m working on a feature about his completion.

    Details: Fujifilm X-Pro2 56 mm 1/60 f/11

  • 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

  • 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.