Everybody knows Kanthan, Kanthan knows everybody

Kanthan Poopalasingam came to Kirkenes from Sri Lanka in 1990, when he was 17. He works as a cleaner, porter, health and safety representative at the hospital and sometimes helps out in the nursing home in the weekends. He loves to work and describes his job as: “De ringer, jeg bringer” (“they ring, I bring”). Everybody knows Kanthan, since he works everywhere in the building. Many of his colleagues’ kids have also been in the two kindergartens he used to work for and know him from there.

Kanthan lives in Langøra with his wife and three children, and without knowing we planned the shoot to happen just up the road from his home. Imagine this is the view from your mailbox!

Kanthan’s neighbourhood © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

In preparation for this shoot we raided the cleaning department cupboards © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

This will be a fine room © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

© Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen