About

Hi, my name is Gunnar Helliesen.

So, here I am, this guy from Norway, who grew up thinking that writing, photography, and the arts, those weren’t real jobs. Or, at least not for me. Not sure where I got that idea, but it’s still with me and I’m still struggling with it. Impostor Syndrome is very real.

As luck would have it, I’m also very much into technology and IT, so I turned that into a career instead. Well, one of my careers. I’ve worked as an envelope stuffer, a store clerk, a photojournalist, a bakery van driver, a mail room clerk, an actor, a mainframe operator, a museum founder, a solar energy financing advisor, a business consultant, and as the CEO of a phone company. I’m currently the Network Manager at a private school in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Looking back at all that, I realize that it was just preparing me for my real calling, which is to tell stories. All the people I met, all those meetings I attended, they were all just raw materials. Soft clay for me to use to build, illustrate, and populate worlds.

Which brings me to the subject of passion.

I love taking pictures but I need to write. Both passions started when I was young, and blossomed while I was in high school, back in Norway. I’ve been writing and snapping pictures ever since, but I’ve never allowed myself to think of myself as a writer or a photographer, never mind an author. Until now.

I can’t promise you that you’ll like everything that I write or image, but I can promise you that there’s passion behind every word and every picture.

Thank you for reading, from the bottom of my heart. Your support means more than you know.

Gunnar