'Old country' festival looks at modern Scandinavia.

Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

SCANDINAVIAN FESTIVAL Junction City's annual Norse heritage celebration will kick off Thursday with Danish Day When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Where: Fourth through Seventh avenues between Holly and Front streets Admission: Free Features: Scandinavian musicians and dancers of all ages; story-telling; arts and crafts demonstrations; food and craft vendors; "The Emperor's New Clothes" pageant, 9 p.m., Festival Park Stage Information: 998-9372

JUNCTION CITY - Some visitors to this community's annual Scandinavian Festival may have an antiquated picture of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland based on the quaint village that materializes, "Brigadoon" style, every summer here.

The community bases its fantasy town, Forbindelsestad, on perceived images of Scandinavia in the early 1900s, when this town's largely Danish founders settled here.

The festival's booths, buildings and murals depict a rural village of small, thatch-topped cottages.

But a couple of new vendors will be on hand this year to provide a strikingly different view.

Russell Young and Scott Eastman will be selling fine art prints of their photographs of contemporary Scandinavia.

Both have spent most of the past five years living and working in the Northern European countries.

Young lived in Stockholm with his Swedish wife, Pia Soderberg Young, who also works in the family business, Ryworld Images. Eastman spent much of his time in Iceland, also considered part of Scandinavia.

The trio recently moved the business to Portland, and the Junction City festival will be only the second such venue where they've exhibited and sold their work.

"We will have everything from landscapes and cityscapes to photos depicting culture and traditional icons of Scandinavia," Young said.

And by icons, he doesn't mean "postcard stuff, like the Little Mermaid," he added.

"It will definitely depict modern Scandinavia," he said.

Not that there's no truth to the slice of Nordic life depicted in the Forbindelsestad that springs up in Junction City each August.

Those little white cottages with their thatched roofs?

"They're there for sure. Absolutely," Pia Young said. "A lot of Swedish families still have summer houses that look like that. But modern Scandinavia is probably best known for its contemporary design and architecture."

Eastman, originally from Medford, and Young, from Colorado, produce gallery-quality photo art.

"All of our prints are on archival materials, using museum grade mats and mounting," Russell Young said. "We'll also be offering some stuff framed."

Their work has been exhibited in major European galleries. Before moving to Portland, for example, they completed a two-year project documenting images of Romania, now on display at the Romanian Embassy and Cultural Center in Stockholm.

This fall, that exhibit moves to the Abbaye Neumunster, Luxemburg's National Gallery, where the tiny Alpine country is hosting the European Union's annual, rotating Cultural Capitol art show. Closer to Oregon, their work has been featured at the Maryhill Museum of Art in the Columbia Gorge.

The two photographers will bring some examples of their gallery size prints to Junction City, but also will feature more affordable, small pieces starting at $15.

"They'll be available in sizes from 3 by 5 inches to 24 by 28 inches," Young said. We realize that not everyone's going to be writing a check for one of our major pieces. That's why we're doing smaller ones, as well.

`Many people want something small of somewhere they've visited or where their family is from."

Eastman said he hopes their photos also will educate festivalgoers about contemporary Scandinavia.

"Iceland, for instance, is a country that does a lot of genetic research - they were so isolated for so long that there's a unique gene pool in their population.

`It's also a very intellectual country. One in 10 people in Iceland publish a book before they die."