Peace
Most people probably know me as a peace and conflict researcher. That has been my primary occupation since 1975. Since 1985 when my wife, Christina, and I established TFF – The Transnational Foundation for Peace And Future Research – that has been my primary organisation – although heading the Lund University Peace Research Institute, LUPRI, 1983-1989.
When you visit TFF, you’ll see a series of menus that will take you back to earlier homepages, from 1997 and onwards, when we began to use the Internet intensively. With some 9000 articles/posts, it is one of the largest collections of peace research anywhere; and all is free.
The menu above – Publications 1970- isn’t ready yet but I hope to offer the visitors here a more or less complete list of about 3000 works – books, book chapters, reports, debate articles, columns, commentaries (text and videos).
Those places cover what I do and have done as peace and future researcher.
Art photography – art photographics
My works since I went public as an art photographer in 2009 can be found on Oberg PhotoGraphics. It integrates all I do in this field and contains also links, portfolios, a shop, my work journal and much else.
I write Oberg PhotoGraphics Blog about contemporary art. Since the end of 2018, it has been exclusively about other artists’ works, exhibitions, etc, not my own. You may take a look and follow it if you like.
I used to post things almost daily on Instagram, but by 2023 I almost stopped. It’s no longer the site for art and contains too much ‘cheap’ stuff and selling for my taste.
I also curate a “GlobalArt – Magazine for art photography and other art” on Flipboard which is a new experience, particularly when you “flip” images and pages on your phone. I have discontinued that in 2025 because I found Substack more useful, so visit Oberg PhotoGraphics on Substack. And see my 2026 entry on Behance.
Connections
Peace + photography = peace photography? It’s not that direct and I am not working on it intentionally. But over time the two may become more closely connected.
One such example would be the Silk Peace Art Road Installation (SPAR) that I exhibited at the Vienna Biennale 2019. Another would be my documentary photography.
There is no doubt that we have enough images of violence 24/7. Neither that images increasingly catch attention and shape people’s worldviews while the propensity to read academic texts and the longer argument is rapidly decreasing.
However, the basic reason I do photography is that I feel an urge to and I want to do something that is more intuitive, joyful and experimental – using both sides of the brain. I’ve taken pictures since I was 7 and grew up with art collecting parents. I’ve followed the modern art world – as much as I could – for more than 60 years. That is my only “education” in that field whereas, in peace research, I have all the formal degrees and titles. I must also admit that, by 2026, I have found that the marginal utility of working 10 hours per day for peace instead of 8 is negligible. In other words, it will be much more meaningful when the West under US/NATO/EU leadership has fallen ’cause by then, the world will again appreciate the values of peace and peaceful coexistence.
In Danish
At fotografere giver mig en særlig glæde. Man kan jo ikke være intellektuel hele tiden og jeg har brug for at arbejde med andre ting end krig og anden vold – 25-30% af min tid. Og gerne mere i fremtiden.
Mine to vigtigste steder i dag er:
1) Oberg PhotoGraphics – der gik op forud for ĂĄbningen af mit atelier den 2-3. maj 2009 og siden er blevet fornyet totalt i 2013 og igen i august 2018. Her kan du ogsĂĄ købe kunstfotografiske arbejder til dig selv eller som gave online.
2) Min fotoblog, som jeg startede i 2011. Den handler om fotokunst og anden kunst, som andre skaber, men ikke om mine egne ting. Jeg redigerer også Oberg PhotoGraphics Magazine on Substack.
3) Jeg kuraterede ogsĂĄ et online “Flip” magasin for foto- og anden moderne kunst – GlobalArt – indtil 2025.
4) Førhen postede jeg nye ting næsten dagligt på Instagram, en det gør jeg ikke længere. Instagram har ikke længere fokus på kunst, er blevet fyldt med billigt stads og omdannet til salgssite. I stedet er jeg fra 2026 på Behance.
Og her er andre steder:
4) TFF – Jan Oberg Photography der viser udvalgte ting 2003-2007, altsĂĄ en slags arkiv.
5) Min fotohjemmeside har ogsĂĄ en side pĂĄ Facebook og jeg blir selvsagt glad hvis du vil “Like” den, gøre den til en favorit hos dig selv og fortælle dine venner om den.
6) En Twitter-side, der handler om bĂĄde foto og fred.
Jeg har ogsĂĄ en side pĂĄ Flickr, men pĂĄ den findes kun ting, der findes pĂĄ de andre og er ikke opdateret i ĂĄrevis.
Jeg har fotograferet siden jeg var 7 – film, dias og digitalt.
I maj 2009 ĂĄbnede jeg foto-atelier og du er altid velkommen men kun efter aftale, da jeg ikke kan have faste ĂĄbningstider. Skriv til mig pĂĄ jan@obergphotographics.com eller ring pĂĄ 0046 738 525200.
Fred og fotografi = fredsfotografi? Måske! Måske kan det gå op i en højere enhed en dag? Vi har i alle tilfælde mer end nok af billeder af volden.
Og sĂĄ giver nogle af serierne glimt fra de steder, TFF og jeg har arbejdet. For eksempel blev serierne fra Irak før besættelsen et af de mest besøgte steder pĂĄ TFF’s hjemmeside da USA og koalitionen indledte sin krig og besættelse.
Velkommen til mit arbejde med fotografik!
Siden opdateret 4. november, 2026
Hej Jan, tusind tak for dit langvarige arbejde for at støtte op om fredsarbejde. Med din interesse for fotografering vil jeg henvise til Roland Guenter’s bog fra 1977. Den hedder Fotografie als Waffe. Undertitel:Geschichte der sozialdokumentarischen Fotografie. MĂĄske ikke lige centralt for din orientering udi fotokunsten, men stærkt inspirerende. Med venlig hilsen fra Jan Kirstein i Espergærde.