Smoked salmon producer Ole Hansen: in pictures

Traditional salmon-smoker Ole Hansen at work filleting his fish. 'Smoking salmon is an art, in a way,' says Hansen. 'There's a lot of pleasure in taking time over the details.'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

'I get the salmon from a family business in Norway, one of the best salmon farms in the world. They treat the fish humanely; completely different to large-scale farming, which makes up 95% per cent of the salmon on the market.'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

'I use 70% beech wood and 30% juniper [above] to smoke the salmon, using a chiminea that cost me £15 – but I’m reluctant to change it, because it does such a good job!'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

Ole Hansen hangs the salmon. 'I wanted my smoked salmon to taste like my grandfather’s recipe. He had some good ideas on the best ways of doing it. I have my own theories – one of them involves playing the piano when the salmon enters the smoking chamber.'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

'First, we fillet the salmon and carefully wash each fish. We then salt each fillet by hand. We then rinse the fillets after 12 hours and hang them in the smoking chamber. The fish has to be handled with respect at all times'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

From tail to top: 'I had a £300 budget to begin with and I made the smokehouse entirely from scavenged, reclaimed materials,' says Hansen. 'That early period was tough. I didn’t have a car, so I was carrying 40kg of fish from Billingsgate Market on the bus at 4am.'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian

'Now the business has begun to take off... When I eat smoked salmon, it brings back childhood memories... I think food can really move people, and I hope that my salmon has the same effect on others too.'
Photograph: Jon Bergman for the Guardian