Åsmund Lasse Tynning
Åsmund Tynning with his camera at Johanne and Øystein's wedding, 2012. The family archive.
Continuity
Åsmund Lasse Tynning
b. 1942, Søndre Valler, Porsgrunn
Åsmund Lasse Tynning was born in 1942 at Søndre Valler, in the middle of the occupation. His father ran the farm while quietly supporting intelligence work; his mother had taught the women of the village to take over the farm work if the war demanded it. At home, his elder sister Brita was already a teenager and his brother Torstein was ten. Åsmund was the youngest of the flock — yet it was he who would remain standing with the farm itself in his hands.
The Farmer at Valler
When Lasse Tynning died in the autumn of 1964, the sons took over the holding together. Torstein received the deed, but he sat in Parliament, so from 1965 it was Åsmund — barely in his early twenties — who ran the daily work. So it is recorded both in the farm and family history of Eidanger (1984) and in «Norske gardsbruk» (2002): the MP's farm was run by his brother, Åsmund Lasse Tynning. For more than twenty years he was the farmer at Søndre Valler, until Torstein's daughter Tone took over the farm in 1991.
In 1969 Åsmund married Bjørg Andersen, a teacher born in 1945 in Oslo, daughter of Odd Sverre Andersen from Langesund in Bamble. They settled at Valler and had the children Åse Linda in 1970 and Øystein Lasse in 1972 — and with Øystein's sons Lasse (2014) and Amund (2018), both the names and the stories carry on.
More to come — Åsmund tells the story himself in the family podcast.
The Photographer and Filmmaker
Alongside the farm work, an entirely different career grew. In 1978 Åsmund Lasse Tynning stood as producer, together with Bo Wærenskjold, of the documentary «Barn og lek» (Children and Play): 17 minutes, colour, Norwegian speech — a film about how society takes too little account of its children. The film was listed in Statens filmsentral's 16 mm rental catalogue throughout the first half of the 1980s, available to schools and associations across the country.
Then came the aerial photography. In the National Library's newspaper archive his name appears together with the word flyfoto from Varden in 1979, through Porsgrunns Dagblad in 1996 and 1997, to Rjukan Arbeiderblad as late as 2023 and 2024, and the name also appears in works such as «Grenlandsboka» (1991) and «Norske gardsbruk» for Telemark (2006), presumably as photo credits. The family knows the work also had connections to NRK. Grenland, the farms and Telemark seen from above: that became Åsmund's signature.
More to come — Åsmund tells the story himself in the family podcast.
Sources
«Gårds- og slektshistorien for Eidanger», vol. 3 (1984), p. 58: birth year, marriage, the children, the operating arrangement from 1965. «Norske gardsbruk: Telemark», vol. 3 (2002), the Søndre Valler entry: the operation under Åsmund and Tone's takeover in 1991. Statens filmsentral's 16 mm rental catalogues 1982, 1984 and 1985/86 (nb.no): «Barn og lek» (1978), producers Åsmund Lasse Tynning and Bo Wærenskjold. The National Library's newspaper archive: over 300 hits on the name from 1956 onwards, including alongside the word flyfoto in Varden (1979), Porsgrunns Dagblad (1996, 1997) and Rjukan Arbeiderblad (2023, 2024). The family's own records.
From the newspaper archive
Two newspaper clippings tell of Åsmund Tynning and the ploughing at Vallermyrene – first as a young helper on the farm, later ploughing in winter after the snow had come.
Ploughing in January
The clipping shows Åsmund Tynning ploughing at Vallermyrene. According to the text he spent the last days of the school holiday helping his father with the work.
Source: the family archive. Newspaper and date are not yet known.
A snowplough too
In this clipping Åsmund Tynning describes ploughing in Eidanger in winter, after the snow had come.
Source: the family archive. Newspaper and date are not yet known.
Role in the family story
The farmer who kept Valler running, and the photographer who lifted Grenland into the air.
Connection
Connected to Porsgrunn and Søndre Valler — the modern branch that grew after the move from Brekke.
Key dates
- Born at Søndre Valler, Porsgrunn, 1942 — in the middle of the occupation
- 1965 — takes over the daily operation of Søndre Valler, which he runs for over twenty years
- 1969 — marries the teacher Bjørg Andersen (b. 1945, Oslo)
- 1970 — daughter Åse Linda is born; 1972 — son Øystein Lasse
- 1978 — producer of the documentary «Barn og lek»
- Aerial photography in newspapers and books from 1979 onwards — Grenland seen from above
- 1991 — his niece Tone takes over Søndre Valler
Family relationships
- Son of Lasse Tynning and Aashild Haugland
- The youngest of the siblings — after Brita (b. 1929) and Torstein (b. 1932)
- Married to Bjørg Andersen (1969)
- Father of Åse Linda (b. 1970) and Øystein (b. 1972)
- Paternal grandfather of Lasse (2014) and Amund (2018), maternal grandfather of Fredrikke (2000) and Marie (2003)
The family through the generations
The farm, the photography and the family have followed one another throughout Åsmund's life. These pictures show a few close moments from recent years — with his son Øystein, his grandsons Lasse and Amund, and the family gathered to celebrate.
Åsmund and Lasse, 2015
The concert in Bergen, 2016
Åsmund and Amund, 2019
The 80th birthday
In 2022 Åsmund was celebrated on his 80th birthday, surrounded by family and friends.