40 replies to this topic

[MurmursAdministrator]

"The walls are endlessly bare. Nothing hangs on them, nothing defines them. They are without texture. Even to the keenest eye or most sentient fingertip they remain unreadable. You will never find a mark there. No trace survives. The walls obliterate everything. They are permanently absolved of all record. Oblique, forever obscure and unwritten. Behold the perfect pantheon of absence."

Many of you will know Bastian (Stian Loholt) as a moderator, fellow poster and great contributor to Murmurs. We are all very sad to share the news that it appears that Stian took his own life in December of 2007. He never gave the impression of having a hard time, so this came as a shock to all the people who loved him. He had been missed from the site for 2 years, but as with all message boards, there is an assumption that life had become busy and the time that was once spent online is taken with life and work.

A friend and fellow moderator searched for him on a social networking site, hopeful to reconnect, never expecting this dreadful ending. Once discovering the awful news, she passed it along to fellow moderators and crew here on Murmurs.  Further searching for information merely confirmed what we already, sadly knew.

We know Stian was very appreciated in this community and we thought that you all should know what has happened to him. The above quote (from the House of Leaves) was his last message - posted as a piece of artwork on his Flickr account, which we couldn’t fully understand as it was posted in braille - when it was translated it seemed to make more sense to his circumstances. He might have perceived that of his own existence, but we will never know. What we do know is that he did leave a mark on the lives of the people who had the luck of knowing him. He will be forever missed.

----



I can't say that I grieve for Stian, because it appears he made a decision for himself and his fate and that is his right. I do grieve for the world though, because I think it is less without him.

The world lost a documentor of its intricate beauty, hidden from most within the fabric of everyday life, through Stian's photography. He had the eyes of an artist and we were able to, for brief moments, see into that sacred world from the photographs he took and generously shared with all of us.
http://www.flickr.co...otos/nicalibre/


The world lost a champion of justice. Stian wanted a fair world and rallied against the injustices he perceived around him. From serving in the army during Kosovo and keeping a fragile peace, to his interest and studies of Latin America and the Middle East.

The world lost an explorer. Stian wasn't afraid to travel alone to places others fear to tread. In his chosen profession as a teacher he taught his students of the wide world outside their school gates with obvious passion from the heartfelt messages on his memoriam page on Facebook.

Here is a picture of Stian on one of his many travels, this time in Guatemala.

http://www.murmurs.c...84&d=1264349875

I wish the black eyed dog never knew Stian's name.



Goodbye.

Christie (Kaleidoscope)

[Lois]

Shocking news.  I never realised it had been that long.   I hope he's found the freedom that life couldn't provide.  R.I.P.

[Sweet Fanny Addams]

I had heard a whisper about this and am so sad to learn it's true. I am so very sorry. Stian will be very much missed here and no doubt elsewhere. He'll be remembered as a truly fantastic photographer, idealist and   valued member of murmurs.
RIP to a kind and gentle soul. :(

[DrinkTheElixir]

Farewell Stian. The whole process of finding this out was unbelievably sad - I was hoping that life had taken him away from us - not this.

I was looking at everything that he had ever documented on flickr and here and it occurred to me that he was determined to see as much of his world as he could before he decided to leave it.

Thankyou for sharing the amazing things that you have seen.  I'm just sorry that being in this world was so painful.

Edited by DrinkTheElixer, 06 February 2010 - 03:35 PM.

[trix]

So sad to learn this.  Indiana Jones and the last Crusade was on TV here last night... whenever I see it I think of Stian's pictures of Petra, and his other pictures of the middle east, especially of the wall in Palestine.  Stian posted many pictures in the Murmurs forum Maps and Legends as well as on his flickr site, I have linked to some below.

http://www.murmurs.c...ad.php?t=108587
http://www.murmurs.c...ad.php?t=108587
http://www.murmurs.c...ad.php?t=108710

[robbbin]

Thats just fucking terrible.

Looking at his last pic post and what he captioned it with sent a disturbing shiver through my body.

Rest in peace buddy.

[fanfan]

R.I.P. Bastian

I remember his posts, and it's strange, and sad, to find out now that he is gone. I would never have guessed that he was suffering so much. His photos give a clue, though.

I hope he is in a better place now.

[Lenny Bruce]

Being a global nomad myself, I absolutely loved his photos in Maps and Legends!  His Petra photos come to mind immediately, but also his photos of the wall in Isreal.  

Extremely sad news.  R.I.P.

~ John

[pebbles]

It's really sad to hear this.  I remember Bastian, and he was very friendly, I liked his posts on here.  I didn't know he was unhappy or suffering, that's just terrible to hear.
Thank you for sharing this.
RIP, Bastian.

[Kelly A]

Dammit. I'm really sorry to hear that. May he rest in peace.

Thanks for letting us know what happened, Christie & Ethan.

Edited by Kelly A, 06 February 2010 - 08:30 PM.

[Mary]

I'm so saddened to find out about Bastian's passing.   I'd noticed his absence and wrote him a few times via Murmurs & Flickr to say hi since he last posted, but I just assumed he'd gotten busy in "real life" and wasn't online much anymore.  My mind never went to a place where I'd considered he might be gone forever.

One of the things I admired most about Bastian's posts here was that while he was obviously very passionate about what was going on in the world, he was a really level-headed debater and even when things got heated, he communicated with grace and respect.  He was fair.  He posted in News & Events a lot, and it seemed like he always had something of substance to say.   I'll never forget that on 9/11, when a lot of news websites in the U.S. weren't able to keep up with demand and Murmurs was freaking out, Bastian kept posting news updates he was able to access elsewhere--in the midst of all that chaos, his voice in that thread helped dispel rumors and keep everyone informed of what was transpiring.  It was a simple gesture, but it meant a lot.

And his photography...god, what great pictures.  His contributions here to Maps & Legends were wonderful, but the rest of his stuff on Flickr was amazing, too.  I remember when I was planning my first trip to NYC in '06, he had so many suggestions about stuff to see--his pictures from there inspired me to do a lot of offbeat sightseeing while I was there.

R.I.P., Bastian.   You're most definitely missed.

[wagtail]

This is really upsetting.  I had such admiration for Bastian, for all of that grace that Mary mentioned.   Bastian's words and photos revealed a person of rare integrity.  That he could communicate so well via this imperfect medium is inspiring.  

Christie said:

I do grieve for the world though, because I think it is less without him.

So true.  

GOODBYE, BASTIAN.
love, rebekah

Edited by wagtail, 07 February 2010 - 12:08 AM.

[OldManRay]

I'm really sad to learn of this.  His posts were always thoughtful and often very insightful, and of course his photographs are incredible.   What a terrible loss.

[robbbin]

Thinking about this all day, Its obvious that he left a goodbye message to be decoded.

It was his way of saying goodbye to all of us.

Up there where he is, he would be happy that the message was decrypted and even happier that it took a while.

Gone but not forgotten.

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[MeanCat]

Oh no. I'm shocked and sad and...
Rest in peace, Stian.

[Blue]

Shocking.. Rest in peace, dear Stian..

[Lissy24]

Very sad news.
R.I.P. Stian.

[wendellg]

Goodbye Stian. May you rest in peace.
:(

[craigp]

ah that's awful.

[twistedkitemike]

This is both shocking and sad news, but thank you for letting us know.

I wondered why Stian hadn't been around fro some time.

It is times like this when you wish that you had the chance to get to know someone a bit better. Our paths crossed pretty infrequently, but I have heard the term 'level-headed' used to describe Stian, which is truly apt.

He had a calmness that is rarely found on-line. His consideration defused many an argument.

In the history of the world, a positive contributor.

My thoughts, belatedly, to his family and close friends.





Mike......................................