I decided to go out in Bergen to take pictures of people... and to talk with them about life in Norway. This is a nation of four and a half million people. I saw not one single street person. While the majority of people are northern European, there is obviously diversity diversity. Asian, African, and Middle Easterners are everywhere... in the streets and in shops selling and buying. I learned that no one is paid directly by check or by cash. All wages must be deposited in the worker's bank account. All wages are reported and all wages are taxed. There is little crime and the maximum sentence is twenty-one years in prison. I am determined to learn more about how they do it. Prices are high but wages are high. I don't know what is done by government to keep the balance between income and cost of living. These are photographs of typical Norwegians. At the end, I couldn't resist Edvard Grieg with a pigeon on his head.




The minimum wage in Norway is the equivalent of $25 U.S. In Norway all means all. Street cleaners and MacDonald workers come under the minimum wage law. The Norwegians are fiercely independent. They say their form of government is not socialist, yet everybody is guaranteed health care throughout life, education through college, unemployment insurance, and retirement.