Helsinki Photo News 2020 by helphoto

Photograph by Marlena Waldthausen (DE)

HELSINKI PHOTO NEWS 2020

The Art Nouveau building completed for use as the National Museum of Finland in 1910 is a treasure as a whole. The modernised permanent exhibitions, evocative changing exhibitions and diverse events guarantee that the National Museum is always offering something new and different. Welcome!

Helsinki Photo Festival ry is a non-profit association created to attract interest and disseminate information on photography and visual culture in Finland and abroad. #helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto20 www.helsinkiphotofestival.com

INDEX

INTRODUCTION Welcome to the very first edition of Helsinki Photo News! We dedicated this issue to Helsinki Photo Festival 2020, the third edition of the photo event we run annually in Helsinki, Finland. For twelve weeks this summer the festival attracted photo enthusiasts to exhibitions of works by 58 Nordic and international photographers spread all over the capital. Helsinki Photo Festival aims at pushing the boundaries for exploring photography and bringing the photo art back on the streets. The festival team creates curated exhibitions and organizes a series of events during summer. The biggest attractions of the festival are temporary outdoor installations at popular tourist spots in the metropolitan area. Our events include artist talks, workshops, seminars, portfolio reviews and photowalks. The main exhibition of year 2020 was hosted by the National Museum of Finland from July 7 to September 30, which has also become the main hub for this year’s events program. Outdoor exhibitions in the museum’s Summer Yard featured works of emerging Finnish and Nordic artists and the wall on Museokatu and Töölonkatu hosted a gallery exhibition of the open call winners, which could be viewed around the clock. The theme of this year’s festival was Trust. Little did we know when deciding this theme in spring, how important would trust become in 2020! In our open call we have asked our contestants to think about these questions: What is Trust? How can Trust be perceived in visual language? How can we consciously feel Trust? What do we consider trust to be and can it be regained? Can Trust change our life and how would such a transition affect our existence? How can communities acknowledge differences while building unity? As prejudices continue to divide us, how can Trust encourage accountability and solidarity? What role does truth play in Trust in friendship, family or love? What happens if you lose Trust in society or humanity? We have received 2784 images from all 5 populated continents, from 310 genuinely talented artists and our international jury had a really hard time to select only 50 finalists. We were smitten by a mindblowing quality of submissions and spent a few weeks on evaluating the works and curating the exhibitions. This year’s edition moved us one step closer to our main goal: to make Helsinki the photo capital of the North. Enjoy reading our first issue of Helsinki Photo News introducing all exhibited artists, venues and events of the year 2020. Rafael Rybczynski Artistic Director

The Nordic Village: Hans Jørgen Ro 2 Geir Moseid 3 Tomas Olsen 3 Magnus Cederlund 4 Carl-Mikael Ström 4 Renja Nurmi 5 Florence Montmare 6 Elise Corten 8 Laura Bisgaard Krogh & Andreas Haubjerg (DK) 9 Anna Ellen Hamlet 10 Lauren Foster 11 M’hammed Kilito 12 Marlena Waldthausen 13 Melissa Ianniello 14 Elizabeth M Sanders 15 Gordon Spooner 16 Teodelina Detry 17 Reiko Ishida 18 Maria Lax 19 Shinwook Kim 20 Berglind Hreiðarsdóttir 21 Laura Liverani 22 Elena Kollatou & Leonidas Toumpanos 23 Mogens Kjoeller 24 Chimera Singer 25 Kamil Matziol 26 Silke Koch 27 Huang Qingjun 28 Dorota Stolarska 29 Nuno Serrão 30 Oskar Alvarado 31 Fotografiepolak 32 Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen 33 Carrie and Eric Tomberlin 34 Arnold Grojean 36 Alex McBride 37 Anton Ivanov 38 Eric Hanson 39 Alexis Vasilikos 40 Robin Alysha Clemens 41 Christian Bobst 42 Cocoa Laney 43 Tom Atwood 44 Gloria Oyarzabal 45 Yolanda Del Amo 46 Mary Gelman 47 Ciro Battiloro 48 Heikki Humberg 49 Noel Bowler 50 Shirin Abedi 51 Cop Shiva 52 Sasha Maslov 53 Nadja Hallström 54 Alain Schroeder 55 Ami Vitale 56 Dilla Djalil Daniel 57 Margeaux Walter 58 Otto Hainzl 60 JCDecaux Digital Photo Exhibition 62 Master Class Stig Marlon Weston 63 Seminar Elina Brotherus & Svante Gullichsen 64 Seminar Arno Rafael Minkkinen & Stefan Bremer 66 Portfolio Reviews 68 Open Call 2021 70 Expert Index 72 Thank you 74 Artistiesittelyt suomeksi 76 Festival Map 88

The Nordic Village The Nordic Village is a talent platform for emerging Nordic artists. Since 2018, this project has showcased over 20 artists from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland in the main festival program. Selected artists have been chosen for solo- and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad such as for a pop up exhibition at World Village festival and Nordic Culture Point library in Helsinki and at the Cultural Centre of Palethe at the Belgian photo festival Lens op de Mens in 2019. Events with Nordic experts are part of the festival’s program. The Nordic Village 2020 was hosted in The National Museum’s Summer Yard.

Hans Jørgen Ro (NO)

Saturn Return Saturn orbits the sun every 29.5 years. In modern Western astrology, Saturn is called the “Taskmaster”. Some people believe that as the planet returns to the same constellation it once was at its birth, it would bring darker times. During these dark times, Hans recalls not being able to connect with the outside world. He could not see the world the same way he used to before. All of his senses were amplified to the point where even the softest touch to his face was uncomfortably intense. Other times the artist felt pure emptiness. Situations in which he usually would have thrived, he now observed indifferently. The artist’s only goal was to get better, but at that point he had no idea what was going on. At age of 28, Hans burnt out completely and for the first time in his life, he experienced depression and anxiety. Stories are very important to humans. Our reality is almost entirely constructed by them. Stories help people to cope with complex issues by simplifying them into neat narratives. “Frozen Man” is a character that Hans based on a stranger who died of hypothermia and whom he decided to photograph at the Central Subway Station in Oslo. The artist captured the man’s neat haircut

and immaculate suit as he was staring into the void surrounded by plain concrete. He seemed small, and in his gaze, Hans saw his own personal crisis unfolding. Whilst encountering depression and anxiety, photography turned out to be more than just a hobby for Hans. The photograph of ‘Frozen Man’ essentially inspired the artist to produce his latest project Saturn Return, in which he revisits his emotional burnout and explores his own problems with anxiety and depression. Saturn Return is a story of what the photographer found. He always trusted that everything will be OK. That trust in the world, and in himself dissolved in the overwhelming tides of his personal burnout. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Hans Jørgen Ro is a student of photography from Oslo, Norway. He is currently enrolled in the Advanced Photography class at Bilder Nordic School of Photography.

Geir Moseid (NO)

Undertaking

The series Undertaking investigates to what extent social, political and psychological factors shape today’s society. Furthermore, it explores how governmental control, group mentalities and xenophobia shape society’s behavior and how these constructs affect our coexistence and collective trust. The world is currently going through a political shift. Rhetorical platitudes, thought outmoded, serve to perpetuate long-established feelings of anger. It appears that fear has become the primary factor determining how groups relate to one another. Truth has become a fluid term relating to news, science, and photography alike. This apparent fluidity is fuelled by demagoguery and populism’s polarization of opinion. In this new framework, the lines between fact and fiction are blurred. In Undertaking, Geir’s aim is to create images that trigger a certain response in the viewer that either recalls a memory from their real life or from their fictional history. By combining cinematographic elements with motifs from everyday life, his images operate in-between fact and fiction, the seen and the experienced, where logic coexists with irrational thoughts. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Geir Moseid is a Norwegian photographer living and working in Oslo, Norway. Since his graduation from London College of Communication in 2008, Moseid has been working on multiple photographic series in which documentary practice and staged photography meet. By working with a 4x5 inch camera, Moseid aims to challenge the way one can perceive and discuss social, anthropological and economical issues in contemporary photography. Moseid seeks a connection between the viewer and the world through the shared experience of common, recognizable scenarios even if they originate from everyday life, TV, cinema or advertising. His work aims to trigger emotional responses in the viewer that stem from the politics of stereotyping, gender classification, the forming of independent and group identities, and the barrier of prejudice. Communication and a humanistic approach has always been at the base of his creative practice even though the narrative’s elements within the work often remain open and ambiguous. To Moseid, a focus on colour, texture, ambiguity and human relationships of various kinds are of paramount importance.

Tomas Olsen (FI)

Inanimate The Inanimate project reflects on the control humans have over their own surroundings. The project consists of a series of small installations of plants, documented through photography. These installations are reflections of pain and cruelty. This aims to show that what is harmful to our surroundings is harmful to us humans. We are a part of our surroundings. We are one.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Tomas Olsen (born 1995, Helsinki, Finland), is a still life and portrait photographer. Curiosity and experimentation are the core foundation in his creative work.

Magnus Cederlund (SE)

Intime

Cafe Intime is the oldest gay bar located in the center of Copenhagen. Intime feels like entering a living room filled with old paintings, furniture and fresh flowers. The interior of the bar has been influenced by the life at Montmartre and Unter den Linden in the 1920s. It’s the place where people take their first date for a drink whilst listening to jazz. The artist Magnus Cederlund has been visiting this place for the past seven years, photographing random guests for his future photo book. The series Intime, however, only displays a specifically chosen selection of photographs from the bar, depicting the trans gender community. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Magnus Cederlund is a Swedish artist who has been living and working in Copenhagen, Denmark for the past 30 years. Cederlund’s first book SKIN CLOSE was published by journal-photobooks.com in 2018. The artist is currently working on his second photo book Cafe Intime that is soon going to be released by Journal. Cederlund has been exhibiting his photographic work both locally and internationally since 1989. His latest achievements include, for example, a photography exhibition at Fotografiska, Stockholm in 2018 and Tevere Art Gallery, Rome in 2019.

Carl-Mikael Ström (SE)

Inevitably it will rain Carl-Mikael’s latest project Inevitably it will rain is based on a quote by Ludwig Wittgenstein: ”What can be shown, cannot be said” (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus). In this project, he wishes to challenge the idea that photography is a language. Through his work, the author is questioning the viewer by asking: What is in his photographs that can be shown but cannot be said? According to Carl-Mikael’s belief, how people see and perceive images is a reflection of their cultural knowledge, learnings, language, and life experiences. This is what the artist calls the “logical picture”, for example: If we see an image of an apple, we identify the object as an “apple” within the “actual image”. Anything that we are able to identify within the image he calls a “logical picture”. He suggests that there are two types of images: “Actual images” and “possible images”. The “actual images” depict

the subject matter as an object contained within the “logical picture”. This way, he refers to the physical reality of an image: Frame, book, canvas, screen, etc. Within the above-mentioned connotations lies the question of whether people have the ability to step outside of their limiting minds to reach the “possible images”. “Possible images” are those images that go beyond the “actual image”. They contain surreal elements, poetry and emotions that cannot be properly identified or explained through language or rationality. This is why CarlMikael believes that being skeptical about objects within the frame of the image is a prerequisite necessary to consider when viewing photography. Poetry has to be pragmatic to be relevant. There is an isomorphic tension between the photograph and the actual object it depicts. Within this tension for him lies photography’s strength. The photographs presented in his series aim to be seen as a visual mental ladder for the viewer to bridge the gap between the “actual” and the “possible” image. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Carl-Mikael Ström was born 1986 in Sweden. He currently lives and works in France. The artist studied photography at Fatamorgana in Copenhagen, Denmark, between 2013-2014. He was an assistant to a Swedish photographer JH Engström between 2014-2018. Ström works with photography, writing and film. He moves between the different mediums, using time as his essential tool to let the frame of the project become visible. Intrigued by what cannot be explained through language within images his work revolves around the question: ”What is there that can be shown but cannot be said?” He believes that an image has endless forms and that time passing inevitably shows, even in a photographic image. Convinced that there is always more behind what you intend to say, he tries to accept the restraints and limitations of creations.

“Jos mä en olis 100%:n varma tästä, niin mä en ikinä tekis näin (If I weren’t 100% certain about all of this, I would never do something like this).”

Renja Nurmi (FI)

Modern Faith

Modern Faith is a photo reportage about the modern Christian faith. In her series of photographs, Renja Nurmi has documented how faith, trust and caring are visible in a modern Christian church. The mainstream Finnish Evangelical Lutheran church doesn’t often attract youth or people under the age of forty, but small and quite new independent churches, like the one that can be seen in Renja’s series, attract them more. At the Sunday gathering of Northwind Church, most of the people are in their twenties and thirties, they sing modern gospel songs, dance, worship with hands raised and the atmosphere is very different from the traditional Finnish churches. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Renja Nurmi is a photographer and graphic designer working mainly in the field of journalism. Her series Modern Faith was created as part of a photo reportage course that Renja took during her Visual Journalism studies at Tampere University. Religions, spirituality and the emotional togetherness in religious communities have always fascinated her, and the artist feels that the spiritual side of people’s lives in this modern world isn’t represented and talked about enough.

OTHER NORDIC OPEN CALL WINNERS 2020:

Anna Ellen Hamlet (SE)

Reiko Ishida (JP/NO)

Maria Lax (FI)

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Berglind Hreiðarsdóttir (IS)

Mogens Kjoeller (DK)

Nadja Hällström (SE)

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EXHIBITED NORDIC ARTISTS SINCE 2018:

Florence Montmare (SE/US)

Midway in life, I find myself standing on the barren shores, a wild and rocky pile of land, facing the Baltic sea. A strange uncompromising attraction. I return over and over again. “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” — Meditation XVII by John Donne The overarching theme of Scenes from an Island is the human condition of displacement and transience and elemental conditions of landscape where land meets water. This is played out against Ingmar Bergman’s mise-enscène, the barren cinematic landscape on the remote island of Fårö, Sweden.

There, natural elements are stripped down and laid bare, allowing a contemplation of the rocks and water to function as a mirror, and in reflection, you are able to see an essence of yourself. This work resonates even more now because of the circumstances that we have found ourselves in. Donne’s poem speaks about the idea of nonseparation and connection. What started as a search for an authentic home through the relation to nature as a source, became a practice of alignment and being in presence.

In a society where neutrality, secularism and individualism rules, the relationship to nature is almost religious as a way of finding connection. It is a utopian dream to coexist in harmony with nature, a relationship that is both contradictory and exclusive. “Midway in life, I found myself standing on the barren shores, a wild and rocky pile of land, facing the Baltic Sea”. Montmare had been invited to Ingmar Bergman’s residence, hidden away on the shore. At first it was only the landscape that she photographed. With time Montmare populated the images, staging scenarios in various locations. The images are interiors and exteriors; landscape sans figures and landscape with figures transitioning through. Bodies in motion contrasted to the desolate topography and its dramaturgy, mountains that have eroded, the earth, the water and the air. A contemplation on transience; body, movement and the surrounding elements. Being able to see a complete unbroken horizon is important for psychological balance. The barren shores, overlooks a horizon is broken only by a spire of an old church, windmills and some pine groves.

Working with an inconspicuous subdued palette, Montmare intentionally break up the horizon, to throw off the spatial perspective and balance, creating a sense of disorientation. Making this work comes from a desire to pause and contemplate, away from distraction and convenience. She peels away layers to get to the elemental; and then reconstruct the frame. As we participate in humanity, art and relations to nature have the capacity to heal. Art has the power to transcend and transform. She hopes this can open up a space for people to find a breathing space and personal interpretations. Most of Montmare’s work is process based and interdisciplinary – from concept and discussions, to production and execution. Returning to similar subjects, narrating them in different ways — she peels off layers, touching upon visceral aspects of life — whether it is in a film, a photograph, a performance or an installation. Identity, displacement and transience are themes that interest her. The work is usually site specific where Montmare stages different scenarios, in which the body’s presence and absence is a metaphor for impermanence and transience. Her approach is with a sense of expanded time, allowing the viewer to contemplate a deeper meaning buried within the language. The process is like meditating which Montmare

has practiced for many years. Initially there is an influx of thoughts flowing through the mind’s eye, before purifying the mind and finding stillness. Here she starts with the empty space before the landscape fills up with scenes and rituals and characters begin to enter. Montmare is interested in exploring a realm of images and fragmented allegorical tales, without the necessity of an obvious narrative, she hopes they will function as a catalyst for the viewer’s personal fantasies. This is an excerpt from Montmare’s diary when she was a resident artist at the Bergman Estate in 2015. Persona Beach, Hammars, 2015 “I sought myself and found the Island. It was a wild and rocky pile of land facing the Baltic sea. Windswept tangled vegetation that grows low to the roots. Still looking for mine. I was looking for home and at the very core of it, solitude. The kind that is earned over time, which passed when I left. It was a strange uncompromising attraction. I returned over and over again. The Island forces me to revisit memories, dreams, fears, shortcomings. In the silence, time expands. There is a slight chill in the air and the ocean is waiting, a giant mirror.” Florence Montmare Solo exhibition as part of Nordic Village. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at The National Museum’s Summer Yard and JCDecaux Finland. Click link for virtual exhibition. www.florencemontmare.com

Warmer than the sun is an ongoing process of Elise Corten documenting her mother. She uses the camera as a pretext to redefine maternal intimacy and trust. By depicting her mother’s daily rituals, Corten looks into who she is, not only as a mother but as a person. These pictures portray her willingness to reveal herself to her daughter in regard to emotional and physical changes. The work balances between personal and universal; exposing mother to daughter, daughter to mother and self to self. Through the collection of these photographic portraits, still-lives, and landscapes, an intimate monograph of a mother-daughter relationship is woven together. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Elise Corten (b. 1994) is a Belgian photographer. She received a BA from Luca School of Arts in 2018 and is currently working on multiple photographic series, whilst finishing her Master’s degree. Her work primarily explores themes of intimacy and connection through long term documentary projects. Her work has been shown in various international publications and exhibitions.

Elise Corten (BE)

Warmer Than the Sun

Laura Bisgaard Krogh and Andreas Haubjerg (DK)

A Question of Honor On a deserted road in Jutland, Denmark stands a house with an unknown address. The authorities call the residence a “Safehouse”, even though it mostly looks like an ordinary home. It is a secure residence, with surveillance cameras and tinted windows in the kitchen that faces the court. All of this has the purpose to protect a group of teenage girls who have been living in the shadow of their family that has exposed them to threats, violence and suppression. The girls live here because of honourrelated conflicts. They were not familiar with this concept before fleeing their families and moving into Safehouse Jylland. But they do know how it feels. The authorities define it as conflicts that occur within close family relations and where the conflicts result from the perception that the honour of the family has been violated. The girls in these families are at risk of forced marriage or abusive punishment in the form of incarceration in the home or physical violence. In the most extreme cases they can be in danger of honour killing. The honour-related girls are torn between the fear of negative social control at home and the love for their family. At Safehouse Jylland they endeavour to create an identity of their own and to live a fairly ordinary teenage life. All girls in this series are anonymous for safety reasons. How this story relates to trust: The people you trust the most in your life are often your family. For the girls in this story that trust has been violated and taken away from them. This story is about regaining trust in yourself. When you are at the center of an honour-related conflict, the fundamental trust in your family, in yourself, and the world around you has been broken down.

“In the safe houses we have experienced firsthand that the girls can rebuild the trust in themselves and reclaim ownership of their own destiny. We are honoured and proud that the girls have shown us their story. As photographers this is the greatest trust you can receive.” Laura Bisgaard Krogh & Andreas Haubjerg Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Laura Bisgaard Krogh and Andreas Haubjerg are Danish photojournalists based in Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark. They are currently doing their BA in Photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism. Through in-depth visual storytelling they create personal stories on issues regarding human rights and living conditions, with a focus on youth and identity. Their collaborative work shows a personal and rare view into the lives of at-risk children. Working with integrity, they have a strong code of ethics that protects the children in their stories. Together they have created a personal visual language that shows the identity of their subjects. “Laura Bisgaard Krogh and Andreas Haubjerg chose the exact right balance between melancholy and poetry, that gives us very emotional pictures and respect for the photographed, so that they don’t come across as victims. Respect is, all things considered, the keyword. Here you acknowledge and see a group of people, whose identity you have to hide at the same time. So even though the pictures are anonymous, we still feel them a lot, because they are not photographed, but felt.” (Statement from jury members of the Danish Picture of the Year, 2019)

Anna Ellen Hamlet (SE)

Through Your Eyes I See Universe Their eyes meet as they are sitting opposite each other for twenty minutes, looking into the eyes of one another, meditating together in silence. The boundary between them is erased. The large format camera is next to Anna Ellen Hamlet, to the left, and sometimes during the meditation she takes a polaroid, but the person portrayed is unaware of when. There is a mutual trust between them. An attempt to capture what is behind the mask of mankind. A need to understand the greater picture. The portrayed live and work at Yandara Yoga Institute in Mexico. They work as yoga teachers, reiki masters, astrologers, musicians etc. This project was photographed during the winters of 2017 and 2018 and collectively includes 23 portraits. Together with the portraits there is a number of guided meditations, mantras and music that has been recorded with the participants. Hamlet has arranged to return to Mexico next winter, in order to photograph the characteristic landscape surrounding Yandara. She says it

to be a magical place, where the dry desert with the gigantic cacti, meets the vast beaches of the Pacific Ocean. It is her plan to make a book out of the combination of the portrait and landscape photographs, together with the sounds of mantras and meditation. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Anna Ellen Hamlet graduated from Gothenburg Photography School in June 2016. Alongside with photography, she works as a part-time nurse. Hamlet’s pictures are an experiment with the photographic image of mankind and what it means to be alive. “With my photographs, I explore our innermost, myself through others and others through myself. The search for what’s behind the mask.” Hamlet

Lauren Foster (UK)

God Has No Favourites God Has No Favourites is an intimate photographic document that explores Laurens’ family’s response to her mother’s diagnosis of secondary brain cancer until her death on the 17th August 2018. The artist’s parents were officers in the Salvation Army for 45 years; the majority of those years were served abroad as missionaries in Africa. They moved back to the UK in 2016, when her mother’s cancer spread to the brain and her father became her primary carer. The project, in its nature, was a therapeutic collaboration for the family and shows the intimate moments shared during this time.

fear death as much as they do now. Having conversations about death occur far too infrequently. In the case of Lauren’s mother, she believed that she was going to be healed by God until the day she died. When the artist asked her father why God would let her mum suffer and die, he simply replied, “because God has no favourites.”

“I hope that the images will reveal the loving and trusting complexion shared among our family whilst also exposing the struggles and pain caused by such an experience”, Lauren expressed. Despite the subject being intensely personal, the images try to transcend this and speak of a more universal narrative about love, family, loss, strength and fragility, that any viewer could understand. The artist’s family is a microcosm for this dynamic, occurring all too often within families, who are also experiencing much of the same struggle. Subsequently the work is raw, showing a certain vulnerability without aspiring to be sentimental.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Lauren Forster is a portrait and documentary photographer; her work mainly addresses sociological issues and explores the human condition, with her family playing a central role to her work. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally, with exhibitions in the UK, Ireland, Italy, New York, Malaysia, New Zealand, Korea and Japan. Features of her work have been published in National Geographic magazine, British Journal of Photography and in Fotoroom. She was a participating artist published in the book On Death in collaboration with Humble Arts Foundation, which was voted by Time as one of the best photobooks of 2019. In 2018 she was a winner of Portrait of Britain, a finalist in the Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition 161, winner in the International Photography Awards: Photo Essay and Feature Story, winner of the Source Magazine Graduate Photography award and was invited to take part in the 209 Women exhibition at the Houses of Parliament. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Wellcome Photography Prize, Portrait Salon award and the Kuala Lumpur International Photography Portrait Award.

Everyone experiences death alone, death separates us from everyone around us and it is an experience that we cannot share with anyone else. Humans have had to face death and mortality since the beginning of time, but our experience of the dying process has changed dramatically in recent history. Death used to be sudden, unexpected and relatively quick, people did not

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Teurastamo, and JCDecaux Finland.

M’hammed Kilito (MA)

Among You Among You reflects the choices around personal identity for Moroccan youth through a selection of portraits of young people, who take their destinies into their own hands. These individuals have the courage to choose their own realities, often pushing the limits of society further. Whether it be through their creative activities, their appearance, or their sexuality, they convey the image of a young Morocco alert, changing, claiming the right to be different and celebrating diversity. These young people, whose minds embody the resistance of a palm tree – a tree, adapted to the harshest Moroccan climatic conditions – defy the conservative and traditional norms of Moroccan society on a daily basis. They cultivate their private oasis despite the obstacles they encounter in a country that they feel is not progressing at the same pace as they are, and inspire others along the way. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY M’hammed Kilito (b. 1981 in Russia) is an independent photographer based in Rabat, Morocco, internationally represented by Native Agency. M’hammed holds a Master of Arts in Political Science from Ottawa University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Montreal. He has worked in different parts of the world, with a focus on Morocco. As a documentary photographer, Kilitos addresses issues relating to cultural identity and the human condition. In 2020, M’hammed became a National Geographic Explorer, received The Photography Prize of the Fondation des Treilles and is nominated by World Press Photo for Joop Swart Masterclass. The same year, he is also shortlisted for The CAP (Contemporary African Photography) Prize. M’hammed is an alumnus of the Eddie Adams Workshop (2019) and a Magnum Foundation/AC/Prince Claus Fund grantee (2018). He is a contributor of Everyday Middle East and North Africa, a collection of images that convey a more accurate view of daily life in the MENA region than what is commonly seen in the media. His work has been shown at festivals and venues including the Sharjah Art Foundation (Sharjah), Tate Modern (London), Addis Foto Fest (Addis Ababa) and PHotoESPAÑA (Madrid), among others. His photographs have been featured in magazines and newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, El Pais, L’Express, Jeune Afrique and Afrique Magazine.

Marlena Waldthausen (DE)

Noiva do Cordeiro (All we need) Noiva do Cordeiro, a community of 300 women and men in south-eastern Brazil, is one of the most beautiful examples of what women and men are capable of and, perhaps most importantly, where women rule. There is no violence and no church, no hierarchies, no privileges. And the central figure of the village is a modest old lady: matriarch Delina. In her village, fights are not brought to court but solved in long discussions. Everybody earns the same. For small and bigger investments everybody helps with what they can. Homosexual love is as accepted as heterosexual love. Kids are looked after in turn, the older and the sick are taken care of. In the huge community house in the centre of the village, food is cooked for everybody several times a day. They smoke, dance and celebrate. And – very different from the rest of the country – power lies in women’s hands. The origin of this female rule lies in the village’s history. Towards the end of the 1950s, a strict evangelical priest married the then 16-year-old Delina and established a rigid system: no music, no contraception, only long hair and clothes, several daily hours of praying and a woman’s word always less valid than a man’s. In the early 1990s the women finally rebelled and broke with the autocrat. They turned away from his male dominated regime. They banned religion, wanted to live compassionately, without a priest, in a community without prohibition. Trying to classify the community structure of Noiva do Cordeiro, one would probably call them matriarchal, socialist and grass-roots democrats. But people in Noiva don ́t need terms or theories. Their principle is – and that may sound as utopian as it is beautiful – love. Everything else follows. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Teurastamo, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY After completing her bachelor’s degree in Regional Studies of Latin America at Cologne University, Germany, in 2012, Marlena started studying Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Applied Sciences in Hanover, Germany with Rolf Nobel. As a freelance photographer she has been working for international media outlets, mainly for the Dutch national De Volkskrant. The artist’s work has been awarded and exhibited internationally. Her latest recognition was an honorable mention at the Unicef Picture of the Year Award and a shortlist position for the Nannen Preis.

Melissa Ianniello (IT)

Wish it was a coming out Wish it Was a Coming Out is an ongoing long-term project, with which Ianniello wants to investigate the double taboo related to homosexuality and old age in Italy. This work originated from a personal experience of hers: Lanniello didn’t come out to her grandparents as lesbian, missing out on the chance to have a shared understanding with them. The lack of such a confession gave rise to the need for self-redemption, the necessity for an act of catharsis which would benefit herself and others. And so, as an indirect tribute to her grandparents, she began exploring the life experiences of people who were similar to them in terms of age, but similar to her in terms of sexual orientation. The protagonists of this work are a group of gay men and lesbian women between sixty and ninety years old. Ianniello began to connect with them in 2018, when she got their contact details through word of mouth and some online dating apps. Then, she started travelling around Italy to meet those who wanted to share their personal story. Ianniello decided to photograph these people as couples or alone, in their own homes, in scenes of true intimacy. In doing so, she captured smiles, worries, thoughts, love and desires, which are rarely given a voice. Beginning with the shared experiences, both hers and those of her subjects, her aim was, and still is, to provide insight into the lives of gay and lesbian people in Italy today who experience that contradictory and fascinating phase of life, known as ageing. To do this,

Ianniello decided to search for these people in as many regions as possible, which is why she travelled, and continues to travel throughout the whole of Italy. This work, with its possibility of remedying those silences that one always carries with oneself, talks about the desire to expose oneself fully without negating any part of one’s identity: the words “coming out” in the title do not refer simply to one’s sexuality but also, and above all, to the intergenerational sharing of one’s own experiences, life, and whole self. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Melissa Ianniello (b. 1991, Naples) is an Italian documentary photographer based in Bologna, Italy. After graduating in Philosophy, Ianniello pursued her photography training, which was mostly self-taught, through periods of study in Bologna and New York, with photographers such as Michael Ackerman, Erica McDonald, Carolyn Drake and Davide Monteleone. Her artistic research is based on two main subjects: the role of the individual in the modern-day metropolis, and themes related to gender and sexuality. Her photographs have been featured in several magazines and her work has been awarded in Italy and abroad.

Elizabeth M Sanders (US)

Be Here To Love Me

The photo project Be Here to Love Me focuses on Elizabeth father’s struggle with dementia, and the long-troubled relationship between her mom and herself, that has shifted into something more beautiful, each year that Elizabeth’s father remembered less. The shared sadness that the family carries in loving him has brought about a major transformation. Through photography, they have become allies. Elizabeth’s mother has become both her collaborator and assistant as she photographs, holding the reflector, or coaching her dad as she takes his portrait. He is no longer able to tell stories, and it is through the image that the artist is searching for him, turning to fiction to fill in the holes of his life with her own imagined or altered memories. How else do you locate the personhood of someone who is no longer the person you knew? Through this project, Elizabeth has come to understand the value of process and what the making of an image can do for those in it. The image becomes a talisman that holds the power of their familial exchange. The image is a way to heal. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, JCDecaux Finland, and Tähtitorninvuoren puisto. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Liz is a documentary photographer based in Brooklyn, New York, and a graduate of the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program at the International Center for Photography. Liz’s photographic practice focuses on the intersection of tradition and modernity an how that affects individual and collective identities, especially within communities experiencing change. Having grown up an only child to older parents and having very little extended family, Liz has an interest in large family dynamics and intimate family relations. Most recently, Liz has been photographing her own small family, during her aging father’s struggle with dementia, and the complexities of the mother-daughter bond as they re-frame their parent-child relationship and imagine a life without him.

ner (UK)

Gordon Spoo

LetGo

“It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.” Thich Nhat Hanh Why are we told to believe stability is desirable? History has proved that everything is temporary. The only thing which has proved permanent is, in fact, instability. Why not accept and embrace instability? The series LetGo is an ode to that uncertainty, to the moment where we leave our comfort zone. The moment in which forward is the only way possible. The moment we decide to put our faith in the future. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Gordon Spooner’s earliest photo album is from when he was around 10 years old, portraying holiday snaps in black and white, taken with a Kodak Instamatic. Places he had been, the pet tortoise and steam trains. He learned to develop black and white film aged around 16 years old. Gordon’s parents

didn’t consider photography to be a “proper job” so the artist decided to study cartography in London instead. Spooner claims to have watched European movies alone at the Essential on Wardour Street, where he discovered Nicolas Roeg, Luis Buñuel and French cinema. Early into his studies, Gordon realised that cartography wasn’t going to keep him interested for very long, which led him to apply for work at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Spooner wanted to make movies that had inspired him and quickly learned cinematography in Paris. He continued taking photographs of models for their portfolios, however, modelling agencies thought his pictures weren’t happy enough, so he switched to taking portraits of his friends instead. The thread in everything Spooner has ever done is the suggestion of a narrative. He wants his photographs to resemble the movies that marked him. The photos that impressed him are hidden in the fabric of the hundreds of films he has shot: “Films have influenced my photography; my photography influenced the way I shoot films. I’m interested in a present, a moment, that suggests a before and an after, that forces the viewer to invent the story that the image belongs to… Sometimes I want to put subtitles on my photographs.”

Teodelina Detry (AR)

Trust

“Trust forms the basis for any relationship. It is something we need to exercise and develop since we are born. Our first learnings come from our parents or loving references. And the success in this learning will provide us with the necessary grounds so as to be able to trust in ourselves first and in others after. Trust others after. And last but not least, we definitely have to learn to trust life! Understanding that it is beautiful but full of unexpected bumps. It will make us feel safe, confident and consequently have more possibilities of blossoming.” Detry Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Teodelina Detry was born in Buenos Aires in 1975. She studied Art Direction at the Escuela Superior de Creativos Publicitarios. During 1997 she lived in NYC and took several art-related courses at Parsons School of Design. Since then, as a visual artist, she has dedicated herself to painting and photography. In 2001 she studied at Andy Goldstein’s School of Photography in Buenos Aires. While living in Geneva, Switzerland (20132016), she continued studying with Aline Kundig and Athena Carey and back in 2017 she studied painting with Inés Miguens, Santiago Carrera and Juan Astica. In the USA and France Teodelina took workshops with the French photographer Alain Laboile. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 she exhibited her work with Inés Miguens in collective exhibitions at the Tattersall de Palermo in BA. In September 2019 she exhibited her work with Zona de Photo at BA Photo Fair and October-November 2019 at Mundo Nuevo Art Gallery. Recently, Theodelina published her first photography book titled La Anémona es la flor que se abre al menor golpe de viento (The Anemone is a Flower That Opens Herself to the Slightest Touch of Wind). The photobook was presented to the public on March 7th 2020 at Fundación ArtexArte in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artist is currently participating in a two-year photography clinic programme at Proyecto Imaginario.

Reiko Ishida (JP/NO)

Isolation In the Isolation series, Reiko Ishida used photography toÂ investigate her own thoughts connected to isolation. Ishida tries to describe her fear for the unknown, but also her hopes and dreams for the future. For many years she had trusted someone. This mistake has caused her to live inÂ isolation. This series represents the backside of trust. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Reiko Ishida (born 1987 in Tokyo, Japan) moved to Norway in 1988. She is a classically trained pianist and a self-taught photographer.

Maria Lax (FI)

Some Kind of Heavenly Fire Maria Lax comes from a small town in Northern Finland, surrounded by a vast, sparsely populated wilderness. Most pass through this town on their way to someplace else, without ever knowing that it used to be a hotspot for UFO sightings in the 1960s. Unaware of this history herself, it wasn’t until Lax read a book by her grandfather that she learnt of the incredible stories about supernatural events, bravery and the struggle against hardship in what is largely a barren land. Already suffering from dementia, Lax’s grandfather was unable to answer any of her questions, so she went looking for answers elsewhere. Lax turned to the people who had seen the mysterious lights and went through newspaper archives and her family’s photo albums from that era. The UFO sightings coincided with a time of great struggle in Northern Finland. In search of jobs, people flooded from the countryside to the cities, leaving abandoned houses scattered across this harsh, yet beautiful landscape. It is no wonder that the UFO sightings embodied a fear of the future, with the unknown

and the inexorable shifts in lifestyles and livelihoods going on in society. Some reacted with fear to the mysterious lights, others took them as a sign that they were not alone. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Maria Lax is a London based photographer, originally from asmall town in Northern Finland. She is known for her use of colour and for seamlessly blending reality and fantasyin her work.Lax’s background in cinematography shines through in her strong use of lighting and experimental camera techniques. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and published in The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, WIRED, American Suburb X and Financial Times among others. She was of the winners of the British Journal of Photography’s Female in Focus award in 2019 and her project Some Kind of Heavenly Fire was shortlisted for the PHmuseum Photography Grant 20.

Shinwook Kim (KR)

In Search Of Nessie Producing photographic work is one way of telling a story. What stories do we find interesting? There are stories that are still haunting people even after a long time. Some stories travel back and forth between time and space yet remain active. These stories, with enough vitality to reach beyond generation and region, are preserved by the means of naming them myths or superstitions. The project In Search of Nessie began with the question of where and how such stories began and how they might affect real life and culture. Loch Ness, a huge lake dating back to the Ice Age in Scotland’s northern Highlands region, is also a mythical place that is widely known around the world, for the reason that it might be hosting a dinosaur-like creature – the Loch Ness monster, informally named “Nessie”. In 1934 a photograph of a mysterious creature began to circulate – this was however a prank by a surgeon named Robert Wilson. The photograph triggered this long-standing mythological phenomenon of Mother Nature to become target of consumption and distribution. There are even records in the Guinness-Records Book of a self-proclaimed “Nessie Hunter”, who has been searching for Nessie for thirty years. Another man, Adrian Shine, has researched the Loch Ness and its mysterious creature for over about 45 years. Throughout 2018-2019, there has been another scientific investigation into Loch Ness monster DNA by geneticists from New Zealand and other countries. The photographer Shinwook Kim does not intend to look for Nessie’s real existence, instead he desires to uncover how invisible myths permeate an actual place and create a variety of devices, designed to imagine the myth through the surrounding landscape, characters and various archives. Through this work, he intends to find the elements of a myth that are created, spread, propagated, and maintained in a particular place. Shinwook hopes to reveal fragmented images and disrupt the way they operate in order to find out how they give meaning to a particular place and through what kind of a process this is achieved. What makes a story (a myth) and how is it maintained and operated? Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Shinwook Kim is an artist and photographer based in London, Milan and Seoul. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London and master’s degree in Fine Art Photography from Royal College of Art, London. The artist has been working on structuring a huge world through close observation and collection of his surroundings while seeking to find the nature of it. Shinwook has been exhibited

internationally in for example the UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Finland/ Sweden, Japan as well as in his motherland South Korea. His works are held in permanent collection at the Kiyosato Photo Art Museum in Japan, KT&G SangSang Madang, SPACE22 in South Korea and Oriel College, University of Oxford in the UK and many more. He is also represented by CE contemporary in Milan, Italy.

Berglind Hreiðarsdóttir (IS)

Mutual

“Mutual is a series of 77 images, each one a collage of two photographs. A part of the collection has been shown before, hung on a wall in clear album pages, each image in the familiar size 10cmx15cm. Each album page has pockets for 4 images. The whole collection would be around 92cmx192cm. My grandmother, Lulla, had a ritual of collecting small albums in which she only kept images of couples. She kept them on her coffee table and showed her guests, together they would gossip about the subjects. The guests would become a part of albums as well, as long as they came in pairs.” Berglind owns these albums since Lulla, her grandmother passed away 5 years ago. Her goal is to present them as a photography series produced by Lulla, however, the artist admits that it never felt right towards the people in the pictures since the connection or trust they shared towards her grandmother would be broken. The project became clear after reading Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water by Astrida Neimanis. The author writes: As watery we experience ourselves less as isolated entities and more as oceanic eddies... the space between ourselves and others is at once as distant as the primeval sea, yet closer than our own skin - the traces of those same oceanic beginnings still cycling through us, pausing as this bodily thing we call “mine”. The water in Berglind’s images translates to the world of emotions people share with their most intimate partners. Trust is a feeling and emotions are constantly flowing, therefore people we trust come and go. Tides change, partners split up, pass away, bond again and the cycle continues. In most cases covering people’s

faces makes them not only anonymous but it can also strip them of age, the color of their skin, gender and sexuality. What is left is the body language of people who have chosen one another. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Sörnäistenlaituri, Cultural Centre Stoa, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Berglind Hreiðarsdóttir (b.1994, Selfoss) is a visual artist from Iceland who is researching her own connections to the photograph. The artist completed her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Icelandic University of the Arts in 2018. Later that year she became one of the co-creators of studio B6, a space in Reykjavik that serves for events, exhibitions and working artists. Berglind is currently participating in a collaborative project with Rhona Ewe Clews through the Arts Territory Exchange. In early 2020 she moved to Malmö, Sweden from where she continues to pursue her artistic career.

Laura Liverani (IT)

Fukushima Surfers The series Fukushima Surfers focuses on the surfing community in Fukushima, Japan. It consists of posed portraits on location, observational and landscape photographs. The photographer Liverani is interested in exploring how the surfing community is reshaping and reclaiming post-disaster Fukushima beaches. Before the tsunami and triple nuclear meltdown in 2011, and before being forever associated with radiation and disaster, the coast of Fukushima, meaning “Good Luck Valley”, was known for its beautiful beaches and high waves. It was a surfers’ paradise, ranking among the best surfing spots in Japan. After the trauma of the tsunami and nuclear meltdown, surfers had to regain their trust for the ocean that had killed their loved ones and destroyed their homes. It is said that the surfers were the first ones to return to the Fukushima beaches. Some went back to off-limits areas within weeks of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, despite potentially dangerous radiation levels. According to both government surveys and some local groups, it is now officially safe to dive into the waters around the Fukushima Daiichi. The aforementioned groups include surfer groups, who independently monitor radiation at the beaches. The local

surfers’ community is very active in trying to win back the trust of the general public into returning to the beach. Surfing is making a comeback in Fukushima. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Sörnäistenlaituri, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Laura Liverani is an award winning documentary photographer and university lecturer based between Tokyo and Italy. Liverani’s work focuses on socio-anthropological issues and is published and exhibited internationally. Publications include The Guardian, Benetton’s Clothes for Humans, Marie Claire, Washington Post, New Scientist and Japan Times. Liverani’s projects were exhibited at the Singapore International Photo Festival, Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo and the Japan Foundation in Sydney. She has been teaching photography at universities in Italy and abroad, including Istituto Superiore Industrie Artistiche (Italy), Middlesex University in London, National College of Art in Dublin and Hochschule Düsseldorf. In 2017 she joined photojournalism agency Prospekt.

Elena Kollatou and Leonidas Toumpanos (GR)

Where we do not belong The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has triggered geopolitical disarray in the Baltic Sea and has created Allies and rivalries among the bordering countries. Nord Stream 2 is a project that results in a geopolitical disarray, since the business between Germany and Russia has the potential to profoundly impact the Central European geopolitical scene, challenging the security of many European countries and deepening economic inequality among them. Eastern European, Nordic and Baltic countries consider that the pipeline will make the EU reliant on Russian gas and thus giving away too much control to Russia, while destabilizing Ukraine by depriving the country of gas transit fees; at the same time Northern Europe and Germany believe that the economic benefits outweigh this issue. With this controversial project as aÂ motive, Elena and Leonidas departed on a journey along the Baltic coastline, in order to reveal the secrets, trace the bonds and track down the conflicting matters that this Sea holds. The findings were simultaneously concrete and vague; non-descriptive situations represent the quotidian space of the people that inhabit these countries and who act as political mediators between East and West. Layering different realities in a single image imparts this ambiguity, since the individual depictions only fragmentary succeed in representing the real. Ripped images are constructing

a visual tale and inviting the viewers to draw their own conclusions. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, PyhĂ¤n Birgitan puisto, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Elena Kollatou and Leonidas Toumpanos are a photographic duo working collaboratively on long-term projects. Together, they participate in group exhibitions and publish their work in international magazines and websites. Elena holds a BA(HONS) Degree in Photography and Film from Edinburgh Napier University and Leonidas a Masters in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from University of Arts in London. Their practice focuses on investigating energy and society related topics, researching a project in depth before proceeding to making pictures. Together they explore the possibilities of representation and our relationship to reality, approaching subjects with a fluid documentary style, following varied ways of production and process-based interventions with the aim to raise questions to the viewers. They are also organizers of Athens Photo Scratch, an event that showcases photography projects in progress.

Mogens Kjoeller (DK)

Fragments Trust is an essential part of our lives, especially if we have to focus on other basic elements than to simply survive. If we experience too many uncertainties, we get stressed. If too many elements are being questioned, we will get paralyzed. We need to put the puzzle back in place and might choose unsubstantiated beliefs. We live in a time with more information than ever before. In order to handle this overload of information we have had to introduce new terms, such as “alternative facts” and “fake news” into our vocabulary. In addition to this information overflow, we are experiencing a new uncertainty in the form of a virus, physically real, transmitted from person to person. This “new normal” has been downplayed bysome and dramatized by others. It has led to conspiracy theories and breaking of trust, further than on a personal level, as we have also lost trust in our society. Will we ever get back to normal or is this the new normal? Beautification, simplification and selection is the nature of an image. This project uses the photographic medium in its original analogue form to consider the acceptance of an image, obviously showing alterations through cutting. An image

Mogens Kjoeller - Cheltenham

always consists of fragments, manipulation and exclusion on the presented. For this project the consideration of parallels between an image and trust is part of the objective. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

After working within strategies, planning and change management for several years, Mogens Kjoeller decided to follow his longstanding dream and went into fine art photography. He received a Post-Baccalaureate in Photography from Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston and completed a Master’s degree in Photography Arts at Westminster University London in 2019, tutored by Prof. Davis Bate and Dr. Lucy Soutter. Kjoeller’s work has been exhibited in Boston and in London, and will be shown at Incheon Marine Media in August this year.

Chimera Singer (US)

Tourists and Landmarks

The urge to document experience is shared across the globe. Tourist attractions are landmarks that are defined and created by the repetition of movement, poses, and of photographs. When looking at images of tourist spaces in friends’ selfies or on billboards, we employ an inherent learned lack of trust in images. Most of us assume a healthy perspective of optimistic skepticism. Unlike early ideas of photography as reality, today we do not consciously see images as the reality of visual experience. Because we all take photos every day, we actively employ methods to “better” our images. We recognize that images of expanse and beauty, like those of Icelandic waterfalls and beaches, are often, though an authentic depiction, created through intentional exclusion. In these two sets of images, Chimera Singer focuses her camera towards the subjects most often excluded in these photographs: the other tourists and practical man made objects. The first set of photos were taken during multiple trips to Iceland. In these photographs, Singer documents the tourists, but removes their cameras in order to prompt the questions: How does the act of photographing shape the tourist experience? What do tourists omit in framing their photos? What do these various inclusions/exclusions reflect about humanity and how we document the tourist experience? In the second set of images, Singer photographed scenes

at landmarks on US Interstate 40. Rather than focusing her camera towards the tourists themselves, Singer is drawn to the objects that tourists exclude from their images. She too admits to omit them. The excluded objects become landmarks in their own right as they become symbols of how we adorn marked “scenic points” as well as how we curate depictions of these scenes through exclusion. With these images, Singer points to our learned distrust in photographs, by creating awareness of the subjects neglected in tourist images. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Chimera Singer is a nomadic photographer who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. She graduated from the University of WA in 2014 with a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts, in which she studied Photomedia and PostHumanist studies. She works primarily as a commercial photographer; her work can be seen in Elle UK, Warner Records Press Kits, and LA Downtowner. In her personal work, she explores dynamics of visual portrayal and prompts viewers individually and collectively in order to engage critically in how they interpret and interact with imagery, challenging assumptions and norms of photographic portrayal.

Kamil Matziol (PL)

Hidden Subject

The project Hidden Subject is a series of photographs depicting Kamil’s self-portraits. In each photograph, the only evidence of the artist’s presence is a red pneumatic air release with which Kamil connects to his camera by releasing the shutter. It is also a tip for the viewer where to find the subject of photography/self portrait. With this kind of action the artist attempts to draw the viewer into his game, based on one basic principle. The viewer must believe that he really is there. For as long as people trust him to be the author, Kamil’s intentions are fulfilled. “Trust is knowledge and faith in action. It is the fulfilment of our expectations towards the object, the subject. The medium of photography has a special ability to distort truth. Photography owes the power to visually fabricate and re-narrate its subject matter into a seemingly truthful story even though the reality is often contradictory. People strive for trust, people need hope. Meanwhile, they are being continuously cheated.” Matziol Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Cultural Centre Stoa, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Kamil Matziol’s statement photographs serve as a testimony for the existence of a point in space that is constantly changing. They enable observation of something invisible and ephemeral. By taking photographs he equally enables himself to depict a sense of reality that has already passed. In his personal opinion, people themselves form an image that somehow reflects on an interpretation of reality. Kamil is fascinated by the fact that viewers tend to trust what they see. They often identify their own experiences with the stories they observe in images which ultimately affects and redirects their thoughts in a certain direction. The artist attempts to create photographs that reflect that sum of feelings. His projects consist of a series of images in which the main subject matter are human beings and their existence. He chooses to create those situations that are not always comfortable or functional. Kamil is also interested in the consumption nature of existence and its production effects as well as the change in the proportion between objects and people. In his work, the photographer seeks the answer to the following questions: how did humans find themselves in the environment in which they create and what gives a meaning to such principles. In order to answer these queries, Kamil has adopted an artistic method that requires him to continuously recollect and reproduce situations based on conceptual elements.

Silke Koch (DE)

Suspicious Objects At New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, fingerprints and a computer-saved photograph were taken for the data stock of the U.S. immigration authorities upon arrival. A few days later, several bombs were detonated in London, followed by a worldwide chain of suicide bombings. In the New York City Subway, people and their luggage were being checked, because of a mere suspicion. In the streets there were objects, with no apparent owner nearby. But are they suspicious, too? Who or what makes these objects suspicious? A (photo) documentation or a conspiracy? Hans Magnus Enzensberger describes the apocalypse as a “catastrophe in the mind”, due to its overwhelming multitude of images. In her artistic work, Silke Koch deals with public space as a place of social representation and questions its suitability for the foundation of identity. “If you see something – say something” is a slogan that keeps New York’s citizens alert to the feared bombing of unattended suitcases, backpacks and other objects with the alarm level ‘orange’ (highest warning level). Tracking this warning, a photographic collection of suspicious objects/sculptures was created according to guidelines listed on the internet. The photos depict (presumably) unattended objects and ‘document’

them, following a system of registration – the objects are given a number, description and location. The phenomenon of Covid-19 has parallels to the slogan, “If you see something – say something”. This is paradoxical, as viruses, unlike (supposedly) unattended objects, are not visible to the human eye. In case of both events, the location of situation-based trust is a public space. Thus, the public space becomes the venue of scenarios that call our trust into question in an unimaginable way. Various artwork of the artists were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Sörnäistenlaituri, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Silke Koch (b. 1964, Leipzig) studied Photography at HGB Leipzig from 1993-1998 after working in education, childcare, and as a basket weaver (1981-1989). In 2003 she finished her Master’s degree having Prof. Astrid Klein as her personal mentor. Since 2014 Koch teaches a photography class at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig.

Huang Qingjun (CN)

Family Stuff Following his belief that everybody has their own captivating story to tell, the photographer Huang Quingjun decided to photograph a group of interestingly looking people in 2019. This particular project was a sub-branch of Huang Qingjun’s main project Family Stuff for which the artist spent 16 years photographing a total of 102 families. In his Family Stuff project, Huang Qingjun asked families to gather all their earthly possessions and display them on their yards in front of their homes. Once all of their belongings were neatly laid down on the grass, the artist began to photograph the family members in the midst of all their family stuff. These people show Huang a great amount of trust by displaying their family belongings in front of his camera. Huang’s approach was to capture a natural smile and expression on people’s faces. The result was a series of portraits displaying his hosts surrounded by their family belongings in which the artists intended to not only express their emotions but at the same time to depict their living status. “I believe every personal belonging must have a special connection to the owner”, Huang noted. According to the artist, the family stuff that is clearly documented in his images is penetrating viewers’ gaze. He believes that without it, the audience would have completely ignored some of the material content displayed in his pictures or think very little about it. His aim was to use these photographic images to interfere with our consciousness. Every part of the project is a testament to the faith and condition of life, an evidence of those that have either adapted or remained unchanged during the modernization process. Family Stuff finds the logic of our existence through visual enlightenment, confirming the particular presence of China under the grand global change. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Cultural Centre Stoa, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Huang Qingjun (b. 1971) is a professional photographer and contemporary artist from China who has been creating photographic art for 26 years. In 1998 December, the artist joined the China Photographers Association and currently lives and works in Beijing. Huang Qingjun’s most known projects are Steam Locomotive (1992 to 2002) and Family Stuff (2003-to present). Online Shopping Family Stuff and Homeless People’s Family Stuff are two special series of works that originated from the project Family Stuff. Huang’s works have won awards such as 2015 China International Press Photo Contest, 2015 London International Creation Competition, 2016 MIFA Moscow International Foto Awards and many more. Various international media, such as the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Wired, have also covered these works. BBC interviewed Huang and his works three times. His works have also appeared in magazines and albums such as Architecture Boston, Business Insider, GEO, Chinese National Geography, Discovery Cultural Geographic Monthly, Guardian Weekend, China Daily, Chinese Photography Magazine, Grazia France, Dutch Weekly Magazine, Vrij Nederland, Dutch Financial Daily, Family Photography etc. Some of his selected works appeared in textbooks published by Oxford University Press and National Geographic Learning, a division of an educational company called Cengage Learning.

Dorota Stolarska (PL)

It’s Always Summer There and Nothing Changes As far as Dorota can remember, her grandparents lived in the same flat and for all those years, nothing changed there. Even many years after they both passed away, the flat remained the same. The same furniture, curtains, and souvenirs. Although the artist has never lived there herself, the flat became for her a symbol of her inviolable and strong relationship with her family, part of her identity. In 2019, the flat was renovated and put up for sale and for Dorota it felt like she was losing part of herself. After the renovation nothing looked the same, it was just an empty space with white walls and no history in it. In this empty flat with only a few pieces of furniture left, Dorota decided to train her memory by recalling her childhood plays. Starting with hide-and-seek, through recreating the artist’s fascination with chair and armchair constructions, she ended up changing into her grandma’s clothes. Dorota devoted a lot of attention to all personal properties that belonged to her grandparents, trying to place them in their original positions. While browsing through their souvenirs (souvenirs brought from exotic countries, such as letters sent from the furthest corners of the world, modern furniture) the artist realized that she had never asked about her grandparents’ background. Also, she has never wondered why the flat is situated downtown among the embassy and government departments. As a child, Dorota was unaware that this was not very typical for Polish houses but as she grew older, she learnt that it was due to her grandfather‘s

involvement with the communist party. It was not a secret but nobody, not even her grandmother, knew what his part in it was. The artist soon realized that the history of her family was built on secrets. Among these white walls, she felt uncertainty and lost trust inher memory. She couldn’t recreate the past from the pieces in the same way they were before. That is why the photographer decided to utilize all of her grandparents’ belongings and created something new, surreal sculptures and situations. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY The photographer Dorota Stolarska (b. 1986) was born in Warsaw, Poland. She holds a graduate degree in Cultural Studies from the University of Warsaw and Photography from the University of Arts in Poznań. She also holds a Ph.D. (cand.) in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź. She is a graduate of the seventh edition of the Migawki project (2015) organized by the Association of Creative Initiatives “ę”. Dorota draws her artistic inspiration predominantly from versatile sights of her homeland, Poland and the country’s vastly changing landscapes juxtaposed with its harsh history. In her works, she uses various media. Her photography works and photobooks have been shown at exhibitions in Poland and abroad.

Nuno Serrão (PT)

In Between

Nuno’s blank slate starts with a functional level of emotion, logic, minimalism, and curiosity. The artist considers these to be his metric system. Curiosity often leads Nuno to document frameable micro-narratives that, in the end, will pose a whole new set of questions. With the sum of all relatable questions, he thinks he’ll get an answer. “Equilibrium is a state in which all competing forces are balanced. I don’t think such a thing can exist in perpetuity, neither does the universe, or there wouldn’t be one. I’m interested in what happens in between all opposing sides, dark versus light, good versus evil, past versus future, happiness versus sadness. It’s in this space that I find most of my inspiration.” Serrão Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nuno Serrão is a Portuguese photographer, filmmaker, and creative director, interested in the dialogues between science and contemporary art. Each of his images considers how information is handled, shared and perceived, framing scenarios as micro-narratives, demonstrating a sensitivity and a curiosity for the planet and its inhabitants (Kate Simpson, Aesthetica Magazine, 2019).

Oskar Alvarado (ES)

W h e re F ir e fl ie s U n fo ld

“The majority of those born in the cities resulting from rural emigration in the 60s and 70s have a common place that unites us: Our parents’ village. Deleitosa is my village. It is located in the province of Cáceres, in the region of Extremadura in Spain. Here my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and other ancestors were, going back through centuries of family genealogy.” Alvarado Deleitosa was the village in which Eugene Smith chose to realize his photographic essay Spanish Village that was published in the American magazine Life on April 9, 1951. Far from showing the perceptible appearance of Deleitosa or some of the visual references linked to what was a photographic icon of the social and economic backwardness in Spanish rural society, the author’s gaze had some subjective nuances linked to a series of experiences, places and memories. Reminiscences that have endured as apparitions in his memory. Images that intermingle episodes that float in the collective imagination with the new realities that coexist in the village. There is an emotional need to trust in the evolution of the territory of which we are part. To explore our identity in the echo of the places that still speak

to us or in the absence-presence of people and beings that inhabit them. To conform to a visual interpretation that evokes the mystery that manifests itself in everyday rhythms, in the poetic condition that underlies the strange. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Oskar Alvarado was born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. He currently resides in Barcelona where the artist combines his work of a photography teacher with the production of his personal works. Oskar holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Basque Country University. From his university, he later received a grant to develop the photographic project Conexiones based in an artist residence in Arteleku Art Center in San Sebastián. The artist’s work has been exhibited in various international festivals such as Voies Off Awards in Arles (France), Solar Photo Festival in Fortaleza (Brazil) or Addis Photo Fest in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). In 2018, Oskar won the first Open Call of Helsinki Photo Festival.

Fotografiepolak (BE)

Real heroes never sleep!!! During the COVID-19 period Fotografiepolak had the chance to capture moments in the Antwerp University Hospital. These times at the frontline were hard to witness, but very important to capture. “Real heroes never sleep… Yet, trust them, because they save lives! So much respect for all the working heroes in the hospital!” Fotografiepolak Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Fotografiepolak’s style of photography is rooted in photojournalism.

They have travelled a lot around the world in order to capture “real life moments”, however, the artist specializes in wedding photography. Fotografiepolak’s creativity is noticeable by the way they play with light, moments and locations. Fotografiepolak is working very hard, however, has a lot of fun creating beautiful images. They are trying to grow everyday, which is why they still follow a lot of workshops from top photographers. During these times and because of the lockdown, they have returned to their first profession as ER nurse. The University Hospital of Antwerp asked Fotografiepolak to capture moments during this extraordinary situation in everyone’s lives. “Belgium is fighting very hard against COVID-19 and for moments like these I am proud to be a nurse and a photographer. I can be meaningful during these bizarre times in my two professions… I love my job!” Fotografiepolak

Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen (VE)

The Meaning of Life “I was shocked when the doctor, after a one minute check up, told me the news. Emptiness invaded my body. Not only did I have a rare type of cancer, but it had been inhabiting my right testicle for more than a year. A year? Less than a year ago I was getting married. Suddenly, my thoughts were spinning: Will I die soon? What will happen to my dreams? I ran home to my wife, she held me and said we were too young to face this. The world ended, but we stayed strong together. Our love made us feel sure that this fight can be fought together. A surgery to remove the malicious tumor was scheduled for three days after I received the news. Instead of Chemotherapy, I opted to have regular medical check ups. Seven months later, which was around Christmas time, my blood values had sky rocketed again and the emptiness came back. The dormant cancer woke up. It metastasized in the lymph nodes in my stomach and chemotherapy was the only option to survive. The night before the first treatment, my wife shaved my hair, a symbol of change. The next day I had a strange element implanted in my chest, a gate for the chemotherapy to access my veins directly in order to kill every fast growing cell, good or bad. From that day on my goals changed: To heal my soul, to be a whole person again, and to rebuild my home from the ashes that cancer left and myself. I did all those things, but it never really leaves you; I will always be a cancer survivor. The looping cycle of check-ups never ends and the person I am now will never be the same. How does one’s identity transform when our body is put under scrutiny and jeopardized? How does a young man survive and move forward? Trust being the most important value to answer this question: Trust your family and loved ones, trust the process, trust the body and technology.” Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen (Caracas, 1988) is a fighter for women’s rights and her weapon is visual storytelling. Mixing rigorous research with intimate stories, she wants to make a positive impact through her projects. Because of the crisis in Venezuela Ana moved to Toulouse in 2009. She studied Political science (IEP) and photography (ETPA). In 2014 Ana moved to Hamburg and since then she has been working as a freelance photographer. In 2016-2017 she produced her most challenging work. The Meaning of Life is the intimate story of her husband’s fight against testicular cancer. Today they use it to raise awareness about this disease. Each year the exhibition raises funds for male cancer research. Her roots called her in 2017, when she returned to Venezuela, the place of her source of inspiration. Here, the artist created her first long-term project Dias eternos in which she reflected on the conditions of women in preventive detention centers and prisons in the country. This work was awarded the Lucas Dolega prize in 2020 and was done with the support of Women Photograph (2018) and Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Travel Grant (2018). It won the first place of the POY Latam in the category, The Strength of Women. Ana wants to carry on this project in the rest of Latin America. She is currently based between Bilbao and Caracas.

Carrie and Eric Tomberlin (US)

Sea Level Rise: Visualizing Climate Change It is difficult to trust what one cannot see. Scientists implore us to act now to stop climate change from destroying the planet, but data is invisible and change is slow and does not impact everyone equally. Having photographed environmental issues for many years, Carrie and Eric find the images of climate change to be limited due to the gradual and elusive nature of the problem. For several years they have been working on a new kind of photography the artists call time distillation. This new paradigm allows them to collect a range of time and collapse it into panoramic space which they later distill into a singular allegorical narrative that has the potential to express a more complex story than a singular photographic

image. This process parallels environmental issues in that it is the accumulation of time that reveals the gravity of the situation more clearly than any individual moment. To best visualize this issue, Carrie and Eric travelled to Bangladesh, which is considered by the international scientific community to be amongst the world’s most vulnerable populations to the effects of climate change. Though Bangladesh faces seemingly insurmountable challenges, they are not merely coping, but adapting with resilience and ingenuity utilizing community-based adaptations. In doing so, they provide an example of taking action on a local, national, and international level to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate

change. Much of what Bangladesh is learning can be applied to other highly populated areas at or near sea level such as Miami, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Amsterdam. Carrie and Eric’s ultimate hope is that better visuals will lead to greater trust and therefore action. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Carrie Tomberlin is an artist and educator based in Asheville, North Carolina. Carrie currently teaches photography and visual culture at the University of North Carolina Asheville where she serves as Gallery Director and Lecturer of Art. Prior to her career as an educator, she worked with several non-profit organizations including the National Museum of Women

in the Arts in Washington, DC. Eric Tomberlin has lived and worked as a freelance photographer, artist, and educator in California, New York, Texas, Washington, and India. Eric received his MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently an Associate Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina Asheville.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

Arnold Grojean (BE)

KOUNGO FITINI (Minor Issues) This project focuses on the lives of Bamako’s street children, a growing phenomenon in West Africa, and has been realized through three journeys to the capital of Mali. Trust has become a notion extremely delicate in the street environment. Indeed, the survival state predominates and it can be very dangerous to trust anyone. These outcasts of society have also lost trust in society itself as well as for most of them, in their own mother. Paradoxically, this work would not have been possible without the trust that the children put in the photographer. The community of street children is an unapproachable world, an entering of which requires permission of the chief and is only possible after a long and immersive presence in the area. This trust has grown throughout the first stage of the project, during which Grojean spent 6 months organizing workshops, in which he taught thechildren to use some analog cameras and encouraged them to express themselves and their reality through the photographic and oral medium. The second stage emerged two years later when Grojean decided to also take pictures of the street children in their living spaces at night. This part of the project has only been possible thanks to the whole process of trust established between the children and the photographer. The result of this work, created throughout

several years in close interaction with the children, takes form in ten different booklets: One booklet containing the pictures Grojean took of the children, eight booklets made of pictures and texts created by the children themselves and a lexicon of contextual details about Malian culture and definitions of the words used in the children’s comments. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Arnold Grojean (b. 1988) is a Belgian artist who studied photography at Le Septantecinq, a college of visual art in Brussels. He currently works between Belgium and Mali. Arnold discovered West Africa for the first time in 2007 and realized most of his artistic work in Mali. KOUNGO FITINI (Minor Issues), his main artistic project, was realized together with the street children of Bamako and received several prizes such as the Roger De Conynck prize in 2015, the Mediatine prize in 2017, and the Contretype prize in 2018. It was voted a favorite by professionals at Visa pour l’ANI in 2017 and has been exhibited in numerous galleries and art institutes, including the Parisian gallery Fait & Causes.

Alex McBride (UK)

South Sudan: The Road to Peace Independence freed Sudan from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956, and it was a yearning for independence that spurred 50 years of civil war between the north and south of the country soon after. Then in 2011 this same yearning gave birth to the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan. It wasn’t long, however before the infant country descended into a civil war of its own in 2013. Ethnic tensions between the ruling government’s Dinka tribe and the opposition’s Nuer boiled over into bloodshed, which, by the time a ceasefire agreement was hashed out in 2018, had left some 400,000 dead, and millions more displaced from their homes. In February of this year the two sides formed a unified government, with President Salva Kiir now having appointed his civil war rival Riek Machar as his First Vice President. The armies which they lead against one another are to be united as one national army. The tribes they represent which inflicted unspeakable atrocities upon one another in wartime are now to form the society slated to join hands in building a sovereign state together. With a history steeped in rivalry, the odds are stacked against the young

nation, and so it is trust that lies at the heart of whether a country can rise out of the ashes of its past or regress once again into flames. Having been taken since the signing of the revitalised peace agreement between the government and rebel opposition in 2018, these photographs map out South Sudan’s tight-rope walk to a new peace, and a people’s unwavering determination to attain the freedom that they envisioned in the formation of a new state: a dream first conceived some 60 years ago. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Alex McBride is a freelance photographer covering political, social and humanitarian issues in East Africa. He is currently based in Juba, South Sudan.

Anton Ivanov (RU)

Trust in Peace The project Trust in Peace depicts people of Syria, the country that has been torn apart by destructive and violent conflict since 2011, and how they all do their best to come back to a peaceful life. Photographer Anton Ivanov had numerous conversations with local citizens; both those whose fates were disfigured by a lasting military conflict and those who were lucky enough to escape, but still had to face destructive ramifications of war. However, the photographer saw something more than just tragedy in Syrian people, whether it was a disabled sapper from Scalbia or a girl named Sidra from Aleppo, who has to walk on prosthetics. This terrible disaster is hard to ignore or hide. It may seem surprising what photographers see in these people and, what is more, they fix on the film the very powerful feeling of hope for their possible return to a peaceful life. During his visit to Syria in September 2019, Ivan visited places that were just recently the centre of military conflict as well as areas that, fortunately, have not been touched by the war. He made a number of black and white analog film shots with a Hasselblad camera in Scalbia, Hama, Aleppo, Homs, Sednayah, Maaloula, fully destroyed during the war city of Kornaz and in Damascus, its suburbs as well as other parts of Syria. The name for the project Trust in Peace was not created from the very beginning, but only after the first shots were printed and first impressions from the visit settled. The title was influenced by fragmented impressions from numerous meetings and conversations with simple Syrians, the majority of whom were not broken and have not yet lost their faith in humanity. These people have not given up their own destiny and look into the future with hope. This project will not only preserve

the unbelievable fragility of the surrounding order of things, that can be destroyed in one minute, but will also represent those people that have faced such disasters and, despite all misfortunes and miseries, still keep a positive perspective for a peaceful life. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Anton Ivanov has been producing black and white film photography for more than 15 years. He has participated in a number of exhibitions displaying analogue photography in Russia, Germany, France, Japan, USA and Italy. The artist is one of the founders of the Art of Foto project and runs an art gallery in St. Petersburg that carries the same name. Previously, the photographer participated in workshops on manual printing and toning with companies Heiland Electronic and Moersch Photochemie in Germany and in the master’s class Black and White Fine Art Printing by John Sexton in the USA. After developing his films, Anton manually prints black and white photographs on silver-gelatin baryta paper in the darkroom. In his opinion, this is the best way to convey the artistic value of his work, so that the viewer fully understands feelings and ideas that were with him at the time of shooting. Anton’s photo expeditions include: Journey to Russia in 2013 and Disappearing Tribes in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea in 2017. The artist climbed the Elbrus mount with the flag of the Art of Foto gallery and a large format film camera (13×18 cm) already twice in his lifetime. The result of these photo expeditions was a personal exhibition Elbrus, Two Peaks curated in 2019.

Eric Hanson (US)

Liberal Gun Owners

Do you trust these people? You don’t know them, but they all are photographed holding guns, and that may give you an immediate feeling about them. Some might trust these people more because they appear strong, confident, and competent holding their firearms. They can protect themselves and their families. Many others might immediately distrust them. Guns symbolize a sort of rugged individualism and portend violence. Some might even feel like a person with a gun is unhinged, unable to be trusted at all. Would it change your opinion if you knew their political affiliations? While most think of gun owners as right-leaning, each of the people depicted in these photographs identifies as a liberal and they come from many different backgrounds and experiences. They include a transgender couple who live in a conservative state, an immigrant from Russia who views training with firearms as a martial art, a son of Mexican immigrants who believes minorities should arm themselves for protection because the police often can’t or won’t protect them, a funeral director who sees death every day but chooses to have firearms to protect his family, and a teacher who owns guns because he finds shooting meditative and relaxing. These photographs force viewers to confront how their own perceptions and stereotypes influence how they trust another person in the first instance. A viewer’s initial instinct about whether they would trust or not trust these people is based solely on their perception of how the subjects look and the object they are holding. As we become a more polarized and distant society, it’s mportant that we think about trusting each other based on lived experiences rather than fleeting perceptions. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Eric Hanson was born by the beach and lives on the hill in Los Angeles. Growing up, Hanson’s father dragged him to galleries and museums around the city. Hanson didn’t take the hint and trained as a lawyer, working for more than a decade as a patent litigator. Mid-career he realized he had taken a wrong turn and began focusing on an art and photography practice.

Alexis Vasilikos (GR)

Balancing Act Alexis Vasilikos’ series Balancing Act revolves around the idea of minimum gestures between people and our environment. Gestures that are vital in the construction of trust; vital to life today. His work consists mainly of small and medium format prints. Prints that require intimacy between the viewer and the subject. “Trust is natural to us, it is there by itself, we are trusting life naturally. What comes out of trust, is a sense of balance – trust brings balance and balance brings trust. These two are interconnected.” Christina Androulidaki Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Teurastamo, Cultural Centre Stoa, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Alexis Vasilikos (b. 1977) is an Athens-based visual artist who works primarily with photography. His work revolves around peripatetic photography, meditation and energetic editing, and is deeply influenced by Eastern mysticism. He studied photography in Athens, at Focus and A.k.t.o. and attended the Art History course of D.A.M.S. in Bologna. Since 2012 he is the co-editor of Phases Magazine, an online publication that showcases fine art photography. He is also represented by CAN Christina Androulidaki Gallery.

Robin Alysha Clemens (NL)

Yo soy otro tú, tú eres otro yo Mexico is a country that has embraced, accepted, challenged and fought various traditions and religions throughout its history: Starting with the indigenous rituals of the Mayans and Aztecs, then Catholicism imposed by the Spanish colonists to the various cultural influences from Africa and from Latin and North America. While the majority of Mexicans identify as Catholics, theinfluences of indigenous customs and animistic traditions prior to the colonization are still present today. Mexico is a country where different mystical and religious traditions blend and mutate against a backdrop of a complex political and social history. Yo soy otro tú, tú eres otro yo is a portrayal of the Mexican people and their faith. Photographer Robin Alysha Clemens travelled to Mexico to meet, interview and photograph over 60 believers: Curanderos (spiritual healers), shamans, Catholics, Buddhists, nuns, brujas (witches), supporters of Santa Muerte (Our Lady of Holy Death), spiritual midwives, videntes (seers), new age spiritualists, artists and indigenous people like the Nahua, Seri and Yaqui. Focusing on the diversity of contemporary spirituality in Mexico, this project explores the unseen and unveils the underlying similarities

between these spiritual practices. Clemens looks beyond the altars, icons and religious symbols, to capture the people behind these beliefs. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Sörnäistenlaituri, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Robin Alysha Clemens (1992, NL) is an Amsterdam based photographer whose work revolves around subcultures and exploring different worlds. Her work visualizes scenes where identity and a sense of place are omnipresent. As a storyteller she is inspired by cinema: she creates theatrical images where light, or more often the absence of light, is most important. She graduated with her Bachelor of Design at the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague in 2016. The artist creates autonomous projects as well as works for clients, including The Correspondent, Het Parool and Natwerk. Her work has been exhibited during the Dutch Design Week, Photography Festival Naarden, Melkweg Expo and in TETEM, among others.

Christian Bobst (CH)

The Sufi Brotherhoods of Senegal In Senegal, 95 percent of Muslims belong to a Sufi Brotherhood, more than in any other Muslim population in the world. For Sufis, peace and tolerance are important values, spirituality and closeness to God are more important than dogmas and strict adherence to religious rules. Senegal has never experienced an attack in this age of international terror in contrast to its neighbouring countries such as Mali or Mauritania. The West African country is regarded as an anchor of stability. This has alot to do with the trust of the Senegalese people in their religion and their spiritual leaders. When tribal leaders called for the raising of arms against the French, during colonial times, Cheikh Amadou Bamba Mbacke (1853 - 1928), the founder of the Sufi Brotherhood of the Mourids, taught his numerous followers that the true Jihad is not war by force of arms, but the fight against inner demons. Even today, most Senegalese are fervent supporters of Bamba’s pacifist teachings. The Senegalese engage in a strong personality cult around the founders of their four largest Sufibrotherhoods and their descendants. While saints are a taboo in most Islamic countries, the names and portraits of the founding fathers of the Sufi brotherhoods can be found on the lettering of colourfully painted buses, as well as posters in shopping centres and textile factories, an on almost all taxis. Although Senegal has a secular form of government, Islam is much more than a religion in the country. It is a lifestyle that permeates the entire society. The Sufi Brotherhoods of Senegal photo essay shows how the Sufi

Brotherhoods and their religious leaders shape Senegalese society and how they maintain power and wealth, but also peace and stability in the country by relying on a tolerant form of Islam instead of dogmatic rules and oppression. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Cultural Centre Stoa, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto,Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Christian Bobst (b. 1971, Switzerland) originally studied graphic design. For almost 15 years he worked for major advertising agencies inSwitzerland and Germany. In 2010 he started working as a freelance documentary photographer. Since then he has produced numerous photo reports and assignments in Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America. His work has been published in magazines, daily newspapers and online media such as GEO, Stern, The Guardian, National Geographic, Die Zeit, NZZ, LensCulture and 6mois. Christian has won numerous international and national photo awards. In 2016, he won the 2nd prize of the World Press Photo Award in the Sport Stories category, in 2020 he was awarded at the POYi, in 2017 at the NPPA as well as with the vfg Swiss Photo Award and the photo prize of the canton of Solothurn and many more. Christian Bobst lives in Zurich and is a member of the photo agency laif in Germany.

Cocoa Laney (US)

Belle During the summer of 2019, Cocoa visited fifteen different towns while meeting young women and non-binary people, many of whom invited her to sleep in their homes. Through conversations about shame, religion, and gender identity, the trip became a pilgrimage to find intimacy and connection in a region that can feel simultaneously familiar and inaccessible, even to those who know it best. Moreover, as Alabama continues to make headlines in regards to women’s rights in the age of Trump, the artist became interested in exploring how the new generation of Southerners reconcile their relationship with the state and navigate the contradictions and extremes inherent to Southern identity. These contradictions are especially apparent in the archetype of the idealized Southern woman, who is often expected to be resilient yet obedient and demure in her strength. As the trip progressed, each participant in the project wrote aletter to the anonymous woman Cocoa would meet on her next stop, sharing stories and creating a network of encouragement among strangers. The resulting work explores the nuances of contemporary Southerness with a diverse array of young people, giving an intimate view of life in present-day Alabama from afemale perspective. Beyond this, it marks the artist’s own attempt to come to terms with the place she still calls home. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at Korjaamo Culture Factory and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Cocoa Laney (b. 1994) is an American documentary photographer based inxthe UK. Her work investigates themes of belonging, identity, and community, and her most recent work explores the lesser-seen aspects of her native Alabama through a feminist lens. In addition to her personal work, Cocoa has worked professionally as a portrait photographer since 2011 under Cocoa L. Photography LLC. The artist’s work has been shown internationally and featured in publications such as LensCulture andThe Independent, and she is currently pursuing an MA in photojournalism and documentary photography at London College of Communication.

Tom Atwood (US)

Kings & Queens in Their Castles

Kings & Queens in Their Castles has been called one of the most ambitious photo series ever conducted of the LGBTQ experience in the USA. Over 15 years, Atwood photographed more than 350 subjects nationwide, including nearly 100 celebrities. With individuals from 30 states, Atwood offers a window into the lives and homes of some of America’s most intriguing and eccentric personalities, by photographing them at home in their trusted private spaces. Modern day tableaux vivants, the images portray whimsical, intimate moments of daily life that shift between the pictorial and the theatrical. Alongside creatives such as artists, fashion designers, writers, actors, directors, music makers and dancers, the series features business leaders, politicians, journalists, activists and religious leaders. It includes those who keep civilization running, such as farmers, beekeepers, doctors, chefs, bartenders and innkeepers. Some miscellaneous athletes, students, professors, drag queens and socialites. As well as a cartoonist, barista, poet, comedian, navy technician, paleontologist and transgender cop. Also showcased are urban bohemians, beatniks, mavericks and iconoclasts, many of whom blossomed in the 1960s and 1970s but seem to be slowly disappearing. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Sörnäistenlaituri, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Tom Atwood’s recent work has focused on portraits of people at home. He has shot over 100 luminaries including Hilary Swank, Julie Newmar, Buzz Aldrin, Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark), John Waters, Don Lemon, Tommy Tune, Meredith Baxter, Greg Louganis, Barney Frank, George Takei, Todd Oldham, Edward Albee, Ross Bleckner and Leslie Jordan. His second book, Kings & Queens in Their Castles, was recently published by Damiani. The book won multiple awards including First Place in the International Photography Awards (book category) as well as a Lucie Award (book-other category). Atwood won Photographer of the Year from London’s Worldwide Photography Gala Awards, as well as first place in Portraiture. He won first place in Portraiture in the Prix de la Photographie Paris. And he was included in the National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Triennial (Smithsonian Museum). Atwood’s work has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, George Eastman Museum, Annenberg Space for Photography, Griffin Museum of Photography, Center for Fine Art Photography and Museum of Photographic Arts, as well as at galleries nationwide, most recently ClampArt in NY, Steven Kasher Gallery in NY, Louis Stern Fine Arts in LA and Farmani Gallery in LA. Atwood has a Bachelors from Harvard University and a Masters from Cambridge University (England).

Gloria Oyarzabal (ES)

Woman Go No’Gree

Empires, by nature, embody and institutionalize difference, both between metropolis/colony and colonial subjects. Imperial imagery floods popular culture. Gender categories were a kind of biologic “new tradition” that colonialism institutionalized in Yoruba, Igbo and many African cultures. Infantilization of women as part of the Western patriarchal system was also exported with the colonization of the mind, configuring a state of vulnerability, facilitating dependency. In 1987, more than a decade before queer theory, Nigerian writer Ifi Amadiume wrote Male Daughters, Female Husbands, freeing the subject position of “husband” from its affiliation with men, dislocating sex, gender and sexual orientation. Can a daughter be considered a son? Can a woman take another as a wife, openly complying with the requirements marriage tradition imposes on the groom? At a time when gender and queer theory are partially stuck in an identity-politics rut, these theories warn against the danger of projecting a very specific, Western notion of difference onto other cultures and questions the concept of gender itself. Oyèrónkẹ Oyěwùmí, another Nigerian feminist writer (The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses) attributes the biologizing of difference to the primacy of vision in European intellectuality, basing its hierarchies on binary distinctions: male/female, white/black, homosexual/ heterosexual. Stereotypes are anti-truth. Beauty norms are often measured with Eurocentric values, white beauty narratives and ideals of beauty (thinness, youth) that are strongly racialized. Whiteness is reinforced as the norm, “otherness” becomes something fetish and “exotic”. Erotic, sisterhood, motherhood, marriage, tradition, domestication… all these aspects, with their own lights and shades in each society, should come out on the same level in order to compare. Can we assume social relations in all societies are organized around biological sexual difference? Beauty canon, modernity, stereotypes… and can we decolonize feminism questioning the Eurocentric gender categories in a universalistic and trustable manner? Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Gloria Oyarzabal is a Spanish artist photographer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCM (1998), who diversifies her professional activity between photography, cinema and teaching. She is co-founder and programmer of the Independent Cinema La Enana Marrón (The Brown Dwarf) in Madrid (1999-2009), which was dedicated to the diffusion of author, experimental and alternative cinema. Oyarzabal graduated in Conservation and Restoration of Art in 1993. She lived in Bamako, Mali for three years, developing her interest in the construction of the Idea of Africa, History of colonizationdecolonization, new tactics of colonialism and African feminisms (20092012). After her Master’s degree in Creation & Development of Photographic Projects at Blankpaper School of Photography (2014-15) her work has been shown at Organ Vida (Zagreb, HR ), Format (Derby, UK), Fotofestiwal (Lodz, PL), Athens Photo (GR), Lagos Photo (NG), PHE PhotoEspaña (ES), Thessaloniki Photo Museum (GR), Bitume Festival Lecce (IT), Encontros da Imagem Braga (PT), Odessa Foto (UA), Kaunas Foto (LT), among many others. In 2017 Oyarzabal was selected for the artistic residency Ranchito Matadero Nigeria-South Africa, where she developed her latest project about African feminisms in Madrid and Lagos (NG). That same year she won the Landskrona Dummy Award, which allowed her to publish her first photobook, Picnos Tshombé. In 2018 she was the winner of the Encontros da Imagem Discovery Award, the Community of Madrid Grant and got a PHmuseum 2nd Honorable Mention. In 2019 she won the Images Vevey Dummy Award, the PHOTO IS:RAEL (IL) Meitar Award for Excellence in Photography, the PHOTOMED PRIZE and the FOTOFESTIWAL GRAND PRIX (Lodz, PL).

Yolanda del Amo (ES/US)

Refuge The project Refuge explores the refugee crisis through a sociological prism by focusing on the integration of migrants in Germany after the massive influx in 2015. To confront the images widely seen in the media portraying mostly only masses of migrants or refugees in camps devoid of individuality, Yolanda turns her camera to what happens behind closed doors. The artist chooses to photograph those Germans and refugees who live together under one roof; for example families who have taken in a minor, couples who have formed romantic relationships or flats shared by several roommates. The foundation for these new domestic constellations is a sense of trust between Germans and migrants. In its core lies not only the openness to negotiate differences in people’s day-to-day routines, but also the acceptance of unfamiliar foods, cultures and religions. The discourse about immigration often characterizes refugees as invaders, victims or heroes. In Yolanda’s photographs, she breaks away from these archetypes and portrays migrants as regular individuals who perform domestic activities with their German roommates. Rather than looking at otherness, Refuge focuses on the togetherness of those individuals who build trust among each other and learn from one another at eye-level. This photo project focuses as much on the German hosts as it does on the refugees. The artist focuses on Germany because of the extraordinary role the country has played in the refugee crisis by accepting astonishing numbers of migrants, more so taking into consideration its history. Refuge offers an optimistic and hopeful perspective on the phenomenon of migration that has previously polarized German and many other societies. Stylistically, Yolanda chose to create staged photographs in order to raise questions about the social constructs of identity, family, home and gender. Furthermore, trust is an essential part of her own creative process too. The artist works with a large format camera and her images are a result of a real collaboration between herself and the participants, who generously share their stories with her, trusting that she will protect their identity and use their images respectfully. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Yolanda del Amo is a Spanish-born, New York-based photographer. Trained as a mathematician in Germany, she left behind a career in the corporate world to pursue one in the arts. At the core of her practice is a focus on individuals through a sociological and psychological prism. She explores how people across generations, genders and countries are connected and uses photographic composition to illuminate the influences that shape us as individuals and as social beings. Her solo exhibitions have been held at Centro Pablo de la Torriente Brau in Havana, Hudson Franklin Gallery in New York City, and Light Work in Syracuse, New York, among others. Her work has been included in over 50 group exhibitions at venues such as the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover and the National Portrait Gallery in London. Yolanda’s work has received multiple awards, such as a commendation at the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 organized by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC and the second prize at the Salón Nacional de Artes Visuales 2005 in Buenos Aires. Institutions that have supported her work through grants include the Fundación Arte y Derecho in Spain, the Jerome Foundation and the Spanish Ministry of Culture. She has been a resident artist at the Terra Foundation for American Art in Giverny, France, the Spanish Academy in Rome and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. Yolanda del Amo works as an Associate Professor of Photography at Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Mary Gelman (RU)

Svetlana In Russia, people have a lot of prejudice toward people with mental disorders. They are not considered full-fledged people with abilities to learn and socialize, they stay unemployed. But there is a place, where everything is different. Where trust and respect for each other is at the core of a community. Svetlana is a unique social village in Russia, Leningrad Oblast. This village gives an opportunity to people with different mental disorders to live free and be supported by tutors and volunteers. This place is not a boarding school or a clinic. No one is controlled and the doors are always opened. Diagnoses are not discussed; residents are not classified as healthy or unhealthy, normal or abnormal. They are all individuals, working to their potential. Residents believe in the person you can become in spite of your past. Svetlana is a community of nearly 35 residents. They live in four large houses, have a garden, a farm, a bakery, a carpentry etc. Villagers are served five meals a day, visit sauna on weekends and do the plays on holidays. People with special needs are free to go out, work, have friends and fall in love. They can realize themselves in any employment or creative activities. For example, at first some residents could not even hold a spoon, but now bake bread for all the inhabitants of the village or get engaged in the performances. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Mary Gelman is a VII Photo Agency Member photographer based in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. In 2016, she graduated from School of Modern Photography in Saint Petersburg and participated in various international and local workshops. Mary works as a photojournalist and teacher. The most important part of her professional life are her personal projects. The artist explores the larger world through close personal narratives. She focuses on a study of issues of gender and body, boundary and identity, discrimination and the human relationship with the environment. Mary has been a winner of different competitions. She’s the recipient of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, Portraits - Hellerau Photography Award, Istanbul Photo Awards and Andrei Stenin International Photo Contest.

Ciro Battiloro (IT)

Santa Lucia There are places in southern Italy that carry scars of incurable wounds on their walls and on the flesh of their inhabitants. In those wounds lies the historical memory, the real face of human beings. In those wounds grows solitude in its rawest form and love in its most sincere display: It’s in here where it is hidden, escaping the superficiality and the homologation of consumerist society. Ciro’s images are an intimate disclosure of invisible existences, an attempt to recover the meaning of life through relationships, the neighbourhood and the families that inhabit it. Between 1950 and 1970, the city of Cosenza underwent its major demographic and building development, due to the population migrating from rural areas. However, at the same time the decline of the historical center also began. The urban expansion was not regulated and followed the unwritten rules of speculation, corruption and maximum gain. Matters related to economy, university education, general public services were moved to the newer, northern part of the city, together with the richer families. Later, when the public housing neighbourhoods of Via Popilia, Serra Spiga and San Vito were built, the remaining population left the historical center. This second depopulation together with the total neglect from local administrators aggravated the social disadvantages. The district of Santa Lucia in Cosenza’s historical center was once the core of city life. Also known as the “lucciole” (prostitutes) district, it is a different entity separated from the city; a parallel world where the decay of its buildings share the everyday life of its people.Today, the few families and indigenous inhabitants that still live in the Santa Lucia district have chosen tenaciously not to abandon that place which is the guardian oftheir identity, despite the constant risk of collapsing buildings. Apart from the locals, foreign families live in the district, among whom some come from the Roma ethnic group. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Ciro Battiloro (b. 1984, Torre del Greco) is an Italian photographer based in Napoli. He studied philosophy at The University of Naples Federico II and later on specialized in documentary photography. For a long time, the artist photographed and worked outside Italy, travelling around Africa (Senegal and Morocco) but also in Iran, Macedonia, Turkey and Romania, among others. His work is an overall analysis of human beings and how relationships, lived in contexts of discomfort and social neglect, can reveal their real human nature. In his photography, Ciro uses a very intimate approach and through everyday life he discusses broader, more general social thematics. In particular, his latest research focused on a couple of the southern Italian neighborhoods (Rione Sanità in Napoli & Quartiere Santa Lucia, Cosenza) that after certain historical processes and countless building policies, suffered from a gradual ghettoization. In 2015, the artist participated in the 2nd edition of LAB, Irregular Laboratory organized by Antonio Biasiucci. In 2017, he was selected to become an artist in residency at BoCs Art and in 2018, at Up-Urban People residency in Milan. His works have been published in several magazines and exhibited in various museums, galleries and festivals.

Heikki Humberg (FI)

Rooms of Truth

The photographic series Rooms of Truth takes a closer look behind closed doors of police interrogation rooms around Europe. The attempt to reach justice and truth is summarized in these spaces, where people are forced to interact. The rooms are being recorded by several cameras, other than of the photographer. Every gesture is interpreted for the prospect of truth. John Steinbeck wrote: “There’s more beauty in truth, even if it is dreadful beauty.” Upon entering the room, one is greeted by a lonely chair in the corner. The door closes behind. Senses grow sharper, as one observes this space void of people. A slight breeze from an open window clatters the blinds against iron bars. Light flickers through. One could almost call this cozy, but the moment is interrupted by the foreign language of the police in the corridor. The placement of the furniture reflects the subtle difference of power. Hundreds of human fates have passed through these rooms: The boyfriends, the neighbors, the mothers,

the lovers, the bosses, the police, the children, the foreigners… The room is a canvas for their stories, and small marks can be found on the surfaces. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Heikki Humberg is a photographer born in 1981 in Kärkölä, Finland. He is currently working on his MA in Photography Studies at Aalto University School of Art, Design and Architecture in Helsinki. Humberg has previously held solo exhibitions in Finland and Ireland and has participated in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad. He has received grants from Arts Promotion Centre Finland, The Paulo Foundation and Frame Contemporary Art Finland. The photographer currently lives and works in Helsinki.

Noel Bowler (IE)

Above the Fold Above the Fold is a series of photographs taken in some of the most respected and recognised newspaper newsrooms from around the globe. Made over a six-year period and working together with a cross section of some of the largest newspapers (by paid circulation), these photographs take the viewer on a journey through decades of human interaction that has helped to form the foundation of the press as we know it. Today, the work of the newspaper and journalism movement has never been so relevant for so many throughout the world. This timely work continues Noel Bowler’s on-going consideration of the political forces that shape our lives and the importance in sustaining the foundation of a free and trustworthy press. Ever since the rapid increase in literacy rates during the 19th century, newspapers have been inextricably associated with the development of modern society through the production of political meta-narratives, the dissemination of information and the framing of debate. With declining readership, reduced advertising and persistent questions about “truth” and relevance, the structures of print media are in a state of flux. Unlike the multifaceted and dispersed nature of online news media, the physical space of the newspaper office has been shaped by many years of evolution, adaptation and work practices that straddle both public-interest rationales and commercial objectives. Above the Fold reinforces the importance that people have played in the role of print news media and acts as a reminder of both the importance and pertinence of the journalist. These photographs offer us an insight into the places where the decisions and policies that affect so many are created. While these places may be separated by geography, culture and politics, they are all inherently linked by one fundamental attribute: The commitment to inform, educate and reinforce the importance of a free and honest press.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Noel Bowler is a photographer and educator. Born in Ireland, he holds a MFA in Photography from University of Ulster, Belfast and a BA (Hons) degree in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport. His work has been exhibited worldwide including New York Photofestival, Dali International Festival, Yunan, China, with recent solo exhibitions in Gallery of Photography, Ireland, Impressions Gallery, England, and RPS Gallery, Tokyo. Previous bodies of work include: Union – A look at the spaces of organised labour. He was nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize in 2011 and for the Prix Pictet Photography Prize in both 2012 and 2015. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Photography at University of Suffolk. His work has continued to examine the idea of “the institution” and the effects of change and circumstance on these institutions and the ideals we take for granted. His photographs, exhibitions and publications have looked at the ongoing consideration of the political forces that shape our world, reflected through the organisation of social space.

Shirin Abedi (IR/DE)

May I Have This Dance? In a long red dress, with a small crown in her hair, Mojdeh dances in front of a red curtain in the cheer of a female audience in Tehran, Iran. Mojdeh (21), Reyhaneh (22), Nona (18) and Yasamin (22) belong to the same ballet group in Tehran. They are part of the Iranian post-war generation, which stands up for self-determination, freedom and equality. In 1958 the Iranian National Ballet Company was established and produced over 50 shows until the revolution. According to the Iranian law, immorality and fornication result from sensual dance, which is why in 1979 all dance facilities were dissolved and dance was banned from the Iranian public. Nevertheless, more and more Iranians are dancing today and try to make it their profession. The ballerina Pardis formed a ballet group with Nima, a contemporary dancer in 2008, which ten years later performed for the first time after the revolution with both women and men on Tehran‘s most famous stage. Having said that, the group is struggling with reprisals: Already approved plays are being cancelled, the light is turned off during performances and too much public attention, for instance via Instagram, may result in the arrest of participating artists. Whereas during the revolution the abolition of ballet symbolized independence from the West, today dance stands for the longing of a generation for Western

freedom. This story is about the social change in Iran on the basis of a subculture, in which dance is elementary to life. These dancers put trust in their ability and strength to fulfil their dreams, despite the disadvantageous circumstances they face. The dancers represent a whole generation that reclaims its desired future. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Born in 1996 in Tehran, Shirin Abedi migrated to Germany at the age of seven. Since then, she has lived a parallel existence between two cultures. Her interest in Photojournalism grew during her early teenage years and got more visible after she took her first class in photography in 2011. In 2016 she moved to Tehran for a year, in order to better understand her country of origin. Back in Hannover, Germany, she continues learning and exploring. She is mostly interested in topics around women‘s issues, identity as well as everyday heroes and their battles.

Cop Shiva (IN)

Street as Studio

A migrant’s relationship with the city is a fragmented one. The harsh metropolis of Bangalore can be a difficult landscape; one that offers no easy solution to the primal need to belong and one that accuses immigrants as non-trustable. Portraits constitute an intimate genre within photography. There is the sitter who is besieged by his own cultural context. Props and postures serve as aids in the business of posing and presenting a persona to the camera lens. Studio photography allows for a fusion between the persona and a given landscape, often a painted and representational backdrop that permits wish fulfillment. The photographer composes the frame; eliminates the extraneous, while retaining the essential. The portrait is captured as evidence to an ephemeral truth. The afterlife of the mise-en-scene is etched onto film, its only other trace remains as memory. Cop Shiva seeks intimacy through the lens of his camera, which becomes a receptacle and records the everyday lives of the city’s resident migrants, who come here in search of a livelihood. Shiva has engaged with them over months, and only after gaining their trust, he invites them to pose for him. The aim of Street as Studio project is to increase their sense of belonging to the city and the community that he and his camera represent. He further aims to emphasise their position in the whole scheme of the things a metropolis represents. The backdrops, referencing the studio tradition, are outdoors, specifically, the murals commissioned by the city’s municipality to “beautify” the streets: Garish paintings of heritage monuments, exotic animals, gods and goddesses, and spectacular landscapes – all of which stand in striking contrast to their lived reality as a secular and cosmopolitan working citizenry, struggling for recognition and in search of intimacy. Shiva asked these reallife vernacular characters to pose against these murals in order to create intimate portraits.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY As an artist, policeman and migrant, Cop Shiva seeks intimacy through the lens of his camera, which becomes a receptacle and records of the lives of the people at the fringes of society. Reaching this point is an ongoing process and his experiences as a farmer, police officer, art coordinator and artist have helped him build a right mindset and focus on his practice. Negotiating all these different aspects of Shiva’s life has allowed him to construct a personal narrative that is shown throughout his work. In 2001 he migrated from his village to join the India Police Department. Moving to Bangalore was challenging, but also gave Shiva the opportunity to pursue his artistic career. In 2007, he joined the art collective 1Shanthiroad, one of the leading Indian contemporary art institutions, as artists’ coordinator, which gave him the opportunity to work with more than 100 established and emerging Indian and international artists. Shiva’s practice documents the complexity of rural and urban India, focusing on people and portraiture as a genre, and is fascinated by the idea of masquerade and the roles people play in public and private. His portfolio includes portraits of urban migrants, people of alternative sexuality, street performers and others living in the hinterland of urban and rural conflict. Cop Shiva is represented by Gallery Sumukha and Art Heritage Gallery in India. He has been awarded grants by Prohelvetia-Switzerland and the Swedish Art Council, and was a finalist for the 2016 Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography at Peabody Museum of Harvard University.

Sasha Maslov (UE)

Ukrainian Railroad Ladies Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is a series of portraits of women who work as traffic controllers and safety officers at railroad crossings in Ukraine. These women spend the majority of their long shifts enclosed in the little railway houses built along the tracks specifically for them. The series studies Ukrainian rural and suburban landscapes where the exteriors of these railroad houses play a prominent role. The project depicts the intimate details of interiors of these houses and invites the viewer to meet the Railroad Ladies themselves. Ukrainian Railroad Ladies is also an exploration of Ukrainian mentality, trust and challenge to the existing system, and why this profession still exists in the 21st century, given the almost full automatization of railroad crossings in Ukraine and around the world. It is a study of the anthropological and social aspects of this particular profession and the role and importance of the railroad in Ukraine in general. The country has been consumed by political turmoil: A war in the East and loss of its territory to an aggressive neighbor, never mind the endless corruption and permanently troubled economy. In Ukraine, people pay little attention to the women they see from a train window, standing and most often holding a folded yellow flag (a sign to the train engineer that all is well on the tracks ahead). The yellow flag

is a symbolic sign of assurance and trust. Although the country and the world are consumed with much larger issues, the people with folded yellow flags play a big, yet silent role in Ukrainian everyday life. In the storm, it’s often hard to see the lighthouse. Ukrainian Railroad Ladies are that lighthouse. They are a symbol of certain things in this country that don’t change, standing firm in the present as a defiant nod to the past. Unfazed by the passing of trains and time, they are here to stay. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Teurastamo, Karhupuisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Sasha Maslov was born in Ukraine in 1984. Inspired and taught by his father, Guennadi Maslov, and later his teacher and mentor, Oleg Shishkov, he became an aspiring young photographer who now resides in New York city. Sasha works in editorial photography and is best known for his social documentary projects based around Eastern Europe and especially in his native country.

Nadja Hallström (SE)

The Last Wild Horses The horse is a universal symbol of freedom. While the majority of Americans value wild horses and want to see them preserved and protected, the Bureau of Land Management who is in charge of all public land, plans to eradicate wild horses and continues to allow intensive commercial livestock grazing on public lands. Chasing such a strong symbol of freedom because of profitable interest becomes a reminder of the distance between reaching the dream of freedom (how it once looked) and the cynicism that often characterizes people’s view on nature today. What happens when we fail to protect the wild animals, when we tame nature into an obedient tool? The hunt for the last wild horses is a prey on a threatened species, like so many before. But also a predatory act on man’s dream of being able to live with the wild, to be in harmony with nature instead of being its superior. The pictures featured in the series The Last Wild Horses were taken at a Wild Horse Rescue Center in the US. At the center, people are working to rehabilitate wild horses and teaching them to trust people. In her images, Hallström depicts the people who are rehabilitating these wild horses and who are fighting for their survival. A friend of hers, Diane Delano, started the nonprofit Wild Horse Rescue Center in Florida about 20 years ago. Since then, she and her volunteers have saved hundreds of horses, including other animals too. Once a wild horse has been captured by the Bureau of Land Management, it is illegal to release them into the wild again. Diane’s goal is to rehabilitate and tame these horses so that they will be able to trust people and get new loving homes. Diane is currently taking care of 47 horses. Her home is a fantastic place and the animals thrive there. The photographer also visited South Dakota, Utah and Colorado to meet other amazing people who are working in this field. Majority of photographs featured in The Last Wild Horses were taken in 2019.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Teurastamo, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Nadja Hallström (b. 1980) focuses primarily on the artistic expression within photography. Her work spans within the fields of wild horses, portraits and personal projects. Hallström grew up in Stockholm within the family of a rich art tradition. She works as a freelance photographer and is widely assigned by different book companies, film companies and magazines. Hallström has lived and worked in Stockholm, Berlin, New York and in Greece. She has received grants from The Swedish Art Committee (2018), The Swedish Journalist Organization (2018), The Film base (2017), Helge Ax:son Johnsons (2016), Längmanska Culture Fund (2012) and Helge Ax:son Johnsons (2009). Furthermore she has been involved in the following books: Personligt: samtal med fritänkare (portraits of Georg Klien, Stellan Skargård, Lena Andersson, Sara Mohammad, Christer Fuglesang, Eva Dahlgren, among others) and En röd stuga med en halvmåne på gave’ (portraits of Jessika Gedin, Sverker Sörlin, Paulina Neuding and Heide Avellan). Hallström has exhibited in solo shows at Eyubi Stockholm (2007), Elverket Stockholm (2008), Neg Pos Frankrike (2009), and in group shows at Planket Stockholm (2007), Mois off de la Photo Paris (2008), M&C Saatchi London (2008), Centre for Photography Stockholm (2009), Moderna Museet Stockholm (2009), the Swedish Embassy Berlin (2010), Planket Stockholm (2011), Planket Berlin (2011), Väsby Konsthall (2011), The Vanderbilt Republic Gowanus Loft New York (2012), Planket Stockholm (2013) and Gallery Kontrast (2014).

Alain Schroeder (BE)

Saving Orangutans Indonesia’s Sumatran orangutan is under severe threat from the incessant and ongoing depletion and fragmentation of the rainforest. As palm oil and rubber plantations, logging, road construction, mining, hunting and other development continue to proliferate, orangutans are being forced out of their natural rainforest habitat. Organizations like the OIC (Orangutan Information Centre) and their immediate response team HOCRU (Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit), rescue orangutans in difficulty (lost, injured, captive, etc) while the SOCP (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme) cares for, rehabilitates and resocializes orangutans at their purpose-built medical facility, aiming to reintroduce them into the wild and to create new selfsustaining, genetically viable populations in protected forests. The fact that we share 97% of our DNA with orangutans seems obvious when you observe their human-like behavior. Today, with just over 14,000 specimens left, the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo Abelii) along with the 800 specimens of the recently discovered Tapanuli species (Pongo tapanuliensis), are listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Pyhän Birgitan puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Alain Schroeder is a Belgian photojournalist born in 1955. In 1989, he founded Reporters (www.reporters.be), a well-known photo agency in Belgium. He has illustrated over thirty books dedicated to China, Persia, the Renaissance, Ancient Rome, the Gardens of Europe, Thailand, Tuscany, Crete, Vietnam, Budapest, Venice, the Abbeys of Europe, Natural Sites of Europe, etc. Belgian titles include, Le Carnaval de Binche vu par 30 Photographes and Processions de Foi and Les Marches de l’Entre-Sambreet-Meuse. Publications include National Geographic, Geo, Paris-Match, among others. He has won many international awards including a Japan Nikon Award 2017 for the Rohingya series, the TPOTY Travel Photographer of the Year Award 2017 with the series Living for Death and the series Kushti, and 1st prize at World Press Photo 2018 for the series Kid Jockeys in the category Sports Stories and 2 World Press in 2020. Alain Schroeder has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide.

Ami Vitale (US)

The Guardian Warriors Ami Vitale began The Guardian Warriors project ten years ago, after she heard about a plan to airlift four of the world’s last northern white rhinos from a zoo in the Czech Republic to Kenya. It was a desperate, last-ditch effort to save a species. At the time, there were only eight of these rhinos left, all living in captivity. When the artist saw this gentle, hulking creature in the Czech snow, surrounded by smokestacks and humanity, it seemed so unfair. It looked ancient, part of a species that has lived on this planet for millions of years, yet could not survive humanity. On March 19, 2018, Ami made the heartbreaking journey back to Kenya to say goodbye to Sudan, the world’s LAST male northern white rhino alive on the planet. This image is of the final moment when Joseph Wachira, one of Sudan’s dedicated keepers, went to give him one more rub behind his ear before he died. Sudan leaned his heavy head into his. The artist took the photo of two old friends together for the last time. We are witnessing extinction right now, on our watch. Poaching is not slowing down. If the current trajectory of killing continues, it’s entirely possible that rhinos will be functionally extinct in our lifetime. Without rhinos, elephants and other wildlife we suffer more than loss of ecosystem health. We suffer a loss of imagination, a loss of wonder, a loss of beautiful possibilities. When we see ourselves as part of nature, we understand that saving nature is really about saving ourselves. Sudan taught Ami that. These are a series of images about the relationships and bonds between humans and endangered species.They understand how important TRUST is for a healthy planet and not just with one another, but with the creatures we coexist with. We must begin to see our world as part of the natural world; the natural world as part of our world. Our fates are linked. Losing one part of nature, is a loss for all of nature. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Teurastamo, Kaapeli, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Ami Vitale’s journeys as a photographer, writer and filmmaker have taken her to over 100 countries where she has witnessed civil unrest and violence, but also surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. She has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit—all in keeping with her philosophy of “living the story.” Ami is an Ambassador for Nikon and a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine. She has documented wildlife and poaching in Africa, covered human-wildlife conflict, and concentrated on efforts to save the northern white rhino and reintroduce pandas to the wild. She has been named Magazine photographer of the year in the International Photographer of the Year prize, received the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting and named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association, among others. She is a five-time recipient of World Press Photos. She recently published a best-selling book titled Panda Love, on the secret lives of pandas. Vitale was the subject of the Mission Cover Shot series on the National Geographic Channel as well as another documentary series featuring Madagascar, Over the Islands of Africa. She lectures for the National Geographic LIVE series, and she frequently gives workshops throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Dilla Djalil Daniel (ID)

The Trust of the Matter The Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital (FAE), where the images of The Trust of the Matter were shot, is the first elephant hospital in the world. It is dedicated solely to the care of these giant, yet sensitive and emotional mammals. The hospital was founded in 1993 by a Thai woman called Soraida Salwala. It is located in the Mae Yao National Reserve in Lampang, 75 km outside Chiang Mai, Thailand. The FAE is a non-governmental organisation that gives free care to sick elephants as well as provides free room and board for the mahouts (elephant caretakers), so they can stay on location during the hospital treatment. All of the domestic elephants in this hospital have either been abused, are sick, injured, or expecting elephants, about to have calves. Many of these elephants belong to elephant tourism camps, which are dotted around the vicinity of Chiang Mai. Most of the elephant patients stay in the hospital temporarily, however, there are five resident elephants that have been living there right from the beginning. Three of them are permanently injured landmine victims, two of which, Motala and Mosha, have each had one of their legs amputated below the knee. Nonetheless, they are quite fortunate, as in 2008 Mosha had her first bespoke prosthetic leg especially crafted and designed for her. She is the first elephant in the word to wear a prosthetic leg. As for Motala, she got her first one in 2009. From time to time Motala and Mosha walk around the compound on their prosthetic limbs. It took years for the vets and paramedics to rehabilitate them and the recovery has been a long journey, involving constant treatment, patience and loving care. Each of these five permanent resident elephants has suffered their own traumatic experiences, as they were not only injured physically, but were also mentally broken. It takes great patience and dedication from the vets, mahouts and hospital staff to gradually build the mutual trust and bond with these gigantic mammals on their long road to rehabilitation.

Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Teurastamo, Tähtitorninvuoren puisto, and JCDecaux Finland. Her solo exhibition “Orphans of The Forest” was held at the Klaus K hotel lobby. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Dilla Djalil Daniel (b. 1966) is a Jakarta based documentary photographer. Her first introduction to the camera was when her father gave her a boxy Kodak camera for her 9th birthday. Ever since then she has been something of a shutterbug. Dilla obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of ndonesia, majoring in English Literature. Dilla’s first photography mentor was her late father, and for many years she shot her objects intuitively, relying on her feelings, sensitivity and a good eye. In 2010, she decided to join a photojournalism workshop in Bangkok. She finally found the genre that suits her the most, which is storytelling by using her camera. One workshop inevitably leads to another, and she found herself attending more and more documentary and photojournalism workshops. Dilla is an alumnus of the Foundry Photojournalism workshop, the Momenta Documentary workshop and the Obscura Workshop. These overseas workshops also suited her well, as she loves adventurous travelling. In the course of these workshops she has been fortunate to have had an impressive list of various award-winning photojournalists as her mentors. For Dilla, photography is the medium that enables her to express her feelings. It is an art form that sees the camera as a brush and light as paint, and the intent is always to narrate a story. It is her wish to carry on telling stories through her pictures, the stories she feels like telling, for as long as she can.

Margeaux Walter (US)

Believe Me Believe Me is a series of photographs resembling surveillance images that one might find in Google Earth. Mimicking augmented realities, Walter stages site-specific temporary installations in the environment that challenge our current post-fact world, influenced by scripted and hyperbolic reality television, fake news, sensational journalism and virtual experiences. By performing the characters in each scene and trusting a drone to capture the image, Walter herself becomes a puppet in the process, flipping the relationship between photographer and subject as well as referencing contemporary surveillance practices. Though seemingly digitally fabricated, Walter’s images are created in camera, using Photoshop only to add the characters, all of which are performed by her, to the pictures. Various artworks of the artist were exhibited at the National Museum of Finland, Korjaamo Culture Factory, Kaapeli, Cultural Centre Stoa, Pyhän Birgitan puisto and JCDecaux Finland. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY Margeaux Walter received her MFA from Hunter College and BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in New York. She has been awarded multiple honors from the Magenta Foundation, Photolucida, Px3 Paris, International Photography Awards, and other organizations. She has attended artist-in-residence programs at Red Gate Gallery, Montalvo Arts Center, Marble House Project, MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo. Walter’s works have been exhibited at institutions such as MOCA, Hunterdon Art Museum, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Tacoma Art Museum, the Griffin Museum of Photography, and the Butler Institute of American Art. Her projects have been featured in publications including The New York Times, New York Post, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, and Blouin Art Info.

Curatorial statements Curating for the Helphoto festival was an honor. The level of the pictures sent to the festival was superb. I was paying attention to what the photographers wrote about their series and selected those that were more consistent and representing the theme trust. Carine Van Greven The Concerned Photographer Reconsidered Another year has passed but the world is a very different place for this summer’s Helsinki Photo Festival. The superb photographs entered reflect the changing times. So many of the participating photographers powerfully address the economic, political and social issues we still face and struggle to resolve. From Global Warming to L.G.B.T.Q.+ Rights. Can art lead the way to action? I hope so. Consider the work exhibited this summer. The images range from tender to surreal, confrontational to enigmatic. Society needs art, people crave it. We are fulfilled by artist’s work that, whatever the medium, makes tangible the thoughts and emotional we are unable to define and articulate ourselves. Art can clarify our objectives. Guide us to a common goal and its influence can be achieved with lasting grace and beauty. After the Second World War photographers were placed on the frontline of social injustice as documented in the book “The Concerned Photographer”. It was a photographer’s unspoken obligation to call out the wrongs of civilization. By the 1970s art photography entered a Neo-Classical period identified as New Color. It was a return to the purely aesthetic approach of personal vision. Today there isn’t a single person in the world who’s life has not been affected by the global pandemic. There is a place for aesthetic vision and social responsibility. Nan Goldin didn’t objectively reveal the lives of Lower East Side youth, she made it more potent by showing her life among them. It’s hard to imagine this viral disruption won’t be evident in art and photography. The 2021 Helsinki Photo Festival will undoubtedly be a significant showcase of that work. Curt Richter TRUST is an incredibly suitable theme given the times we currently live in. Can you trust in politics? In photography? In the physical touch of your friends? What can you (still) trust, in other words? - Art will always find answers to questions that seem irresolvable. The photography featured in the open call for artists for the theme by the festival presented a very diverse selection of ways to address this difficult topic. In some series, hope and even - trust - was graspable and close to be re-established. Going through the artistic works was a truly enriching and inspiring experience. Alexa Becker The Helsinki Photofestival has the vision to push boundaries by searching unconventional ways of exhibiting, bringing photography to the streets, and presenting a thoughtprovoking body of works. The festival’s different exhibitions and events are based on cross-cultural interaction between artists, city space, and audiences. This year HelPhoto presents diverse interpretations under the theme ”Trust”. The selected artists portray different situations, on varying scales. They open up diverse world views, realities, and beliefs. Some works narrate intimate and personal stories that underline trust as the core of all human interaction and some comment current political, economical, and social constructions. The relationship between people and their surroundings, life, death, and religion come up. There are works that play with the audience’s judgment and tempt their imagination, while others are more conceptual. Most of the photographs appeal to our emotions and senses. Trust is the most topical theme in current, unpredictable, and devastating, times. More than ever we need to have faith in each other, to (re)build communities. Helphoto aspires to bring people closer together by bringing these different stories from all over the world to Helsinki. Trust is overcoming prejudice and fear. It is the core of all human interaction, even though the risk of betrayal is always present. Trust calls for courage and courage for trust. I do hope the audience can have even surprising art encounters while going on with their everyday life. Memorable, perhaps even poetic encounters, that bring a smile to one’s face or interrupt the usual train-of-thought. Karoliina Korpilahti I am very delighted to have been part of this edition of the Helsinki Photo Festival as curator. I am very surprised by the diversity of subjects and artistic approaches. It’s like a large spectrum which allow us to be aware of what going on in

in the world, sometimes in regions which are at the margin of grands centers and metropolises. « Trust » is a central focus in life all time and in our world today which people feel every day insecure threatened by the degradation of the ecosystem, the loss of social links and the rise of extremism. Thanks Rafael for giving me this chance to enjoy all these artistic experiences with many references to literature, philosophy, anthropology… Abdelghani Fennane Looking for quality and searching for the outstanding in such a diverse and exciting pool of submissions as for the Helphoto Festival is not an easy task, as every project is interesting and the photographer always has a fascinating story to tell! Still, connecting to the theme of “Trust” is not as easy as it seems. All photography is in a sense about the trust between the photographer and the subject as well as with the viewer. Some photographers focus on people showing trust in each other, some work with the subject to establish a sense of shared understanding while others aim to challenge their own intuitive trust of the medium. And I always fall in love with projects where this sense of trust shines through the image. Truly great photography creates a bond between the artist and the viewer. And photography at its best gives us images where we instantly recognize the photographer´s trust in us to understand and recognize the human nature of wonder and belonging that they have experienced, and need us to share with them. Stig Marlon Weston I had been staying in Helsinki for a short time, but it was a great honor to be here for the first time for me as an International judge for the Helsinki International Photography Festival 2020. Looking at the submitted photographic works, my first impression was that the quality of all the works was very high, and the content was very diverse. From the submitted works, we can see the problems, history, life and ethnicity of each land. And I felt the universality and the difference. And I was deeply impressed that the photographic expressions draw them, and that the photographers seriously face them. The works I have chosen are those whose theme is universal across countries, ethnic groups and environments. Photography is a great tool that transcends language, transcends national borders, and delivers a strong message to the world. I think it’s important for photographers to universally express the personal problems they have and see. In particular, our planet, where the COVID-19 is currently outbreak, is full of feelings of blockage and anxiety. However, through the experience of judging at the Helsinki International Photo Festival, I was convinced that the possibilities of photographic expression were endless, and I could feel the hope for tomorrow. I am very happy to be able to participate in the screening of the Helsinki International Photo Festival by remote work, but I am very sorry that I could not come to Helsinki at this time. I believe that next time I will definitely be able to visit Helsinki. I wish for the success and future development of the Helsinki International Photo Festival 2020. And I wish the photographers good health. Naoya Yoshikawa It was a huge joy being a member of HelPhoto´s curatorial team and I’m a great fan of the festival´s Open Call concept. As a curator it gives me a unique opportunity to spot amazing artists from all over the world. Going through more than 300 portfolios has reminded me of just how many passionate, talented photographers are out there. The artists that we have chosen for this year’s festival all want to share something important with us. They tell beautiful, sad, weird, touching, sometimes humorous visual stories of what it is like to be in this world. They offer us an opportunity to stop and reflect upon the state of the planet and the state of ourselves. It was a privilege to be part of a team that offers a platform where these amazing photographers can show and share their work. Marianne Ager I am delighted that Helsinki Photo Festival continues to celebrate excellence in contemporary photography. The Festival’s admirable determination to connect curators, artists and photography enthusiasts in Helsinki despite the current difficulties and restrictions imposed by Covid-19 crisis is truly impressive. I came to the process of selection with the strong belief that the very best photography always has something important to say - no matter how apparently abstract or ‘difficult’ the subject matter. I am

Archipelago June 2020 (Stefan Bremer)

pleased to say that I found this quality again and again in the work that I reviewed. I was happy to be able to see great variation of professional and photo enthusiasts’ works alike and discover new talents who I hope to meet in due course. There were some real treats to anticipate here. I look forward to seeing the exhibitions and wish the organisers all the best wishes for their great effort in this challenging time. Fariba Farshad As a second year jury member I was pleasantly surprised that the level of photos and the series were so much better than last year. I was nearly shocked by the entries from all over the world. (What happened?) I guess the Corona virus played a role in this year’s catch. Maybe so that the photographers sitting at home in front of their computers decided that they would participate this year and really dug into the works they had been occupied with for the last year. Many series were top level and many singular shots rouse to a new exciting height. I could even detect some famous photographers (that I knew) were a part of those who submitted their works. It seems to be a new dawning of documentary stuff that digs deeper into the subjects. On the other hand there were also so called Free Artistic Work presented. If I might wish for something, it would be a more active participation from our Nordic countries. Sometimes it feels that if the venue is close enough the people get easily blind. I’m happy that the topic this year was interesting enough to produce over all high standardworks. In the future I hope that we have an interesting topic that both serves expressive approach as well as more low voice artistic way of thinking. I congratulate those who were chosen for the festival and encourage those who were not chosen this year. I’m sure that next year will be your turn. Stefan Bremer Who could anticipate last year, when we had chosen Trust as a theme for 2020, that this will become a matter of primary importance and relevance. Trusting your government, policy measures, people around you and life in general becomes undeniably relevant subject to ponder. I was truly surprised by the quality of the submissions, the wide range of subject these incredible talented artists from all over the world had used to connote the theme. I monitored the submission process from the beginning to the end and could clearly see what a tough call it was for the jury to choose the winners, with so many outstanding talents in this call. And I’m very grateful to each and everyone of you, participants, artists and supporters, for making Helsinki the new photo capital of the north again! Rafael Rybczynski

Otto Hainzl (AU)

Europastrasse Most of us have heard of one, fewer know what an ›Europastrasse‹ exactly is. Whatever the precise answer, they stretch all over our continent. Implementing such an Europastrasse requires a huge effort — an effort in willpower, in budget, in planning as well as in engineering. There must be a strong determination, otherwise they simply would not exist. Nevertheless, whose determination is it? Ultimately it is the determination of ourselves, the European society! Yet, who are we as European society? This is exactly the question which the Austrian photographer Otto Hainzl asks the audience of his work to consider. By tracking our traces, by photographing apparently unspectacular settings, arrangements of our everyday lives, he generates a Bilderwelt that reflects us Europeans in various aspects. After all, we are the architects of Hainzl's subjects. For this observation Hainzl picked the E75 ›Europastrasse‹. Nine countries will be crossed by this road, from Vardø, the most northeastern point of Norway, all the way to Sitia on the Greek Island of Crete. The longest stretch is in Finland. He rode along the E75 in its entirety in nearly a quarter of a year. Throughout this journey, he reflected and documented “us” Europeans and “our” europeanness in image, video, sound and more. www.ottohainzl.at Various works of the artists were exhibited at Korjaamo Culture Factory. This solo photo exhibition was supported by the Austrian Embassy Helsinki celebrating in 2020 with Finland and Sweden their 25th anniversary of EU-Membership.

Modular display stand design by Dayoung Song, Aalto University.

JCDecaux Digital Photo Exhibition Helsinki Photo Festival 7.7â&#x20AC;&#x201D;31.7.2020

Curated one image exhibition presenting +50 open call winners of the annual theme TRUST of Helsinki Photo Festival 2020. The entries were selected by an international jury of arts professionals. JCDecaux digital photo exhibition was displayed around the clock at bus, train and tram stops in the downtown area of Helsinki in Aleksanterinkatu, Lasipalatsi, Helsinki Central Station (bus and Compass billboard), Kaivokatu, Kaisaniemi, Kaisaniemi/Varsapuistikko, Mikonkatu, Kauppatori, Stockmann-Aleksanterinkatu and Stockmann-Mannerheimintie.

In addition, to the digital photo art exhibition, one ad was powered by JCDecaux throughout the metropolitan area of Helsinki from 7-31, July 2020. Curated by Rafael Rybczynski. Design Lead: Eemil Friman. This multimedia video was exhibited by Galleria Futura in Kaapelitehdas, September 4-14th, 2020 (11am-6pm) in the exhibition with all unseen work of theme TRUST. Exhibition video edited by Adam Nurek. Watch the video here!

P E DAG O G Y E V E N T S «What do you take pictures of ?» MASTER CLASS WITH STIG MARLON WESTON (NO) Date: August 24-26th, 2020 Time: 5-8pm daily Place: The National Museum of Finland at the Häkälä building / access from Töölönkatu 1 Language: English Guest lecturer: Henri Airo (FI) This workshop will help you dive deeper into your own photo project and lead you to a better understanding of your own work. We will have a focus on discussing the participant´s individual projects as we go through ways of developing ideas and how you use these methods to present and talk about your work. Through practical exercise and group discussions you will improve both your practice and your method of presentation for approaching collaborators and galleries. The workshop will be centered around a series of project presentations by invited guest photographers and the following presentation of your own work to them. Together we will look at how you can develop your ideas and your photo project further and practice how to present it in a more focused way. In addition, homework assignments will open you up for new lines of thought in your personal work, and talks on photographic method and philosophy will improve your work process and prepare you to take your project to the next level. At the end of the workshop the participants present their projects in front of an audience. Three day long photography workshop led by Norwegian photographer Stig Marlon Weston, an experienced photo artist, teacher and curator. WORKSHOP PROGRAM At 4:30pm Monday 24th of August, we met up at the Häkälä building for an informal introduction to exhibitions of Helsinki Photo Festival at The National Museum of Finland Summer Yard to a small social gathering before the workshop program starts on Monday. The workshop run from Monday 24th of August to Wednesday 26th of August. Every day the program started at 5pm running till 8pm. The daily schedule included talks and group discussions, presentations by guest photographers, portfolio presentations by each participant, and homework assignments for the next day. On Wednesday 26th of August the participants were invited to present their projects to a public audience together with the workshop teacher. Due to Covid19 restrictions the amount of people was limited to 10 participants. This workshop was held in The National Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

SEMINAR WITH ELINA BROTHERUS & SVANTE GULLICHSEN Accomplished Finnish photographer Elina Brotherus meets emerging Finnish talent Svante Gullichsen to introduce their works and approaches in photography.

Date: September 4th, 2020 Time: 2:30-5:30pm Place: Auditorium of The National Museum of Finland Language: English Watch the video here Elina Brotherus (b. 1972, Helsinki, Finland) works in photography and moving image. Her work has been alternating between autobiographical and art-historical approaches. Photographs dealing with the human figure and the landscape, the relation of the artist and the model, gave way to images on subjective experiences in her recent bodies of work Annonciation and Carpe Fucking Diem. In her current work she is revisiting Fluxus event scores and other written instructions for performance-oriented art of the 1950s-70s. Another ongoing interest is photographing in private houses by architects like Alvar Aalto, Friedensreich Hundertwasser or Michel Polak, where Brotherus takes roles of various imagined characters and brings a tranquil human presence to these iconic spaces. Elina Brotherus started exhibiting internationally in 1997. The artist’s works are in 66 different public collections and she has published ten monographs. Elina Brotherus lives and works in Helsinki, Finland and Avallon, France. She has an MA degree in Photography (2000) from theUniversity of Art and Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) and an MSc in Chemistry (1997) from the University of Helsinki. Her works are in public collections including the Pompidou Centre, Paris, Kiasma - Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Saatchi Collection, London and MAXXI, Rome, to name a few. Her work has been given prominence in numerous art and photography books and magazines. She has published ten monographs, most recently Why Not?, published by Hirmer Verlag and Weserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen 2020 and Playground, a limited edition hand-made box featuring 80 works from her exhibition at Serlachius Museum, Finland. She has been awarded, among others, Carte blanche PMU, France, in 2017, the Finnish State Prize for Photography in 2008, and the Prix Niépce in 2005.

www.elinabrotherus.com

Svante Gullichsen (b.1994) is a Helsinki-based photographer whose work varies from strong Nordic and mystical atmospheres to warm and insightful commissions. At the very core of Gullichsen’s work is the relation between human and nature as well as the fundamental relation between darkness and light. Gullichsen’s works have been shown in the Generation 2017-2018 exhibition series and can be found in private collections. Svante is an open-call winner at the 2019 Helsinki Photo Festival on the theme “Anarchy” and won the best image that year. www.svantegullichsen.com

SEMINAR WITH ARNO RAFAEL MINKKINEN & STEFAN BREMER Two photography superstars – the Finnish-American photographer Arno Rafael Minkkinen and the Finnish photographic artist Stefan Bremer – showing through the decades of work the differences and similarities in their visions, practice, and thinking.

Arno Rafael Minkkinen is a Finnish American photographer, essayist, educator and curator with over 100 solo shows and 200 group exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design, studying there with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. His teaching career began in Finland in 1974 at Helsinki’s Taideteolinen Korkeakoulu where among his star students was Stefan Bremer. His teaching career has been extensive and international in scope. Assistant Professor at MIT in the early 1980s, visiting professor at Vevey’s École d’Arts Appliqués in Switzerland for ten years at the turn of the millennium, he is currently Emeritus Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and docent at Aalto University School of Art, Design, and Architecture in Helsinki.

Minkkinen is a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1991, the Order of the Lion First Class medal from Finland in 1993, the 2006 Finnish State Art Prize in Photography, the 2013 Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art, a 2015 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, the Pro Finlandia medal conferred on the Centennial of Finnish Independence in 2017, and the 2019 Honored Educator Award from the Society for Photographic Education. Minkkinen wrote the essay Finland’s Dark Poet of Velocity for Mr. Bremer’s latest monograph from Teos, Velocity: Keskeltä ja täysillä.

Major monographs include: Frostbite (Morgan & Morgan, 1978), Waterline (Marval, Aperture, and Otava, 1995 – Grand Prix du Livre, 25th Rencontres d’Arles), Body Land (Motta, Nathan, and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997), SAGA: The Journey of Arno Rafael Minkkinen: Thirty-Five Years of Photographs (Chronicle Books, 2005), Homework: The Finnish Photographs, 1973 to 2008; Balanced Equation (Lodima Press, 2010), and Minkkinen (Kehrer Verlag) which won the German Photobook Prize for Monograph of the Year 2019 | 2020. Minkkinen’s works are held in over 75 prominent museum and institutional collections worldwide, such as the Musée d’art moderne and the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, the Musée de l’Élysée in Lausanne, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the High Art Museum in Atlanta, the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and the Contemporary Art Museum Kiasma in Helsinki. Fotografiska in Stockholm is currently presenting Arno Rafael Minkkinen’s 50-year retrospective Two Hundred Seasons through January 21, 2020.

Date: September 10th, 2020 Time: 12-3pm Place: Auditorium of The National Museum of Finland Language: English Watch the video here

Stefan Bremer (b. 1953, Helsinki, Finland) is a photographer, a visual artist, and a teacher from Helsinki. He studied at the Aalto University in the 1970s and has been teaching for several decades in art schools around Finland as well as at the Stockholm School of Photography and the Gothenburg University. Quite a large number of young, and semi-young, photographers in Finland are former students of Stefan Bremer. He has lead intensive photography workshops in Europe, Africa and Asia and his works has been shown around the world in numerous solo and group exhibitions. Many of his photographs are part of public and private collections around the world.

“Different productions need different approaches also in photography. I have reserved me the right to react and choose techniques and angles due to the project. Sometimes I do the photography from a slow introspective angle and other times I need to twist and shout. The teaching job with young and talented students has also given me lots of inspiration in my own artistic work”. Bremer was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Photography in 1988, the title of Artist Professor in 1999 and the Culture Prize of the City of Helsinki in 2011.

People were at the heart of Stefan’s artistic pursuit in his earlier career, he has studied the difficulties of being human. ”I wanted to broaden the soulscape of Finnish men and women. I dove into the world of youth and with affinity brought different individuals to light, and studied trends and tendencies of that time. I wanted to study indecisiveness and the collapse of ideals with as much interest as the contagious enthusiasm of life. In my work I also strived to comment and participate in the political discussion of moralism and ideals. I want to polemicise, to use photography as a tool for propaganda and to be an interpreter of the bitter laughter.” Stefan Bremer’s new works address many of the basic properties of photography, studying the elements of time, scale and light. The camera can record a thousandth of a second in an image, a slice of time beyond the grasp of the human eye. The scale ranges from minute particles and studies of ink to a high bird’s eye perspective.

P O R T F O L I O R E V I E WS Date: August 28-29th, 2020 Time: 11.15am-6pm Place: Ateljee at The National Museum of Finland Language: English Portfolio Reviews are open to photographers of all levels to showcase their work and to get back professional feedback as well as networking with people who may be able to help you with your career development or lead to exhibitions, publications and much more. Opportunities for critique, guidance, and professional connection are available within a wide range of photographic markets, such as portrait, product, fine art, travel or fashion photography, among many others.⁣ For the first Portfolio Reviews of Helsinki Photo Festival, we have brought together some leading experts in the field of photography including curators, cultural institution leaders, magazine editors, festival directors as well as photo-book publishers.⁣ Altogether, we have received 43 impressive portfolios from artists around the world. The first prize winner of this year's Portfolio Review will be exhibited solo at Helsinki Photo Festival 2021. The winner and up

to five runners up will be also featured in the festival's online gallery at our homepage and on the festival’s social media channels. The highest voted portfolios will also be offered the opportunity to participate in the Helsinki Photo Festival limited edition print program in 2021. The jury of reviewers considered the following criteria: Impact / The lighting / The story it tells / Consistency of the portfolio's theme / Its technical quality / Creativity / Composition & style / Use of colour / Presentation / Innovative or unique approach to the subject matter The event with experts took place August, 28-29th 2020, at Ateljee in The National Museum of Finland or digitally, in case COVID-19 travel restrictions would prevent some of the jurors or participants from attending in person.⁣ Each project proposed portfolio could include a maximum of 15 pictures. The face-to-face or digital meetings lasted a minimum of 20 minutes.

THE JURY JUDGING ALL PORTFOLIOS INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING EXPERTS: Elina Anttila Director of the National Museum of Finland

Karin Aringer Head of Contemporary Art & Design Bukowskis,

Maria Faarinen Chief Curator at The Finnish Museum of Photography

Sweden

Emanuela Mirabelli Photo Editor, Marie Claire Italy

Alexa Becker Acquisitions Editor for photography and art books

Rafael Rybczynski Artistic Director of Helsinki Photo Festival

for Kehrer Verlag

Stig Marlon Weston Photographer and Director of the CYAN

Nela Eggenberger Chief Editor at EIKON – International Magazine

studio collective

for Photography & Media Art

Nita Vera Photographer & PhD student of Photography at Aalto

Moritz Neumüller Barcelona based Curator, Educator and Writer

University

in the field of Photography and New Media

Marianne Ager Curator of Photography & Film, Brandts Museum

Naoya Yoshikawa Artists of Photography and Professor at

of Art and Visual Culture, Denmark

Osaka University of Arts

Lotta Lemetti (FI) “Kekta”

Laura Pannack (UK) “Baruch”

Sandro Livio Straube (CH) “Berge bleichen”

W E C O N G R AT U L AT E T H E W I N N E R S O F T H E P O R T F O L I O R E V I E W S 2 0 2 0 : DAVID BARREIRO (ES) ”A BREACH OF MARGINS”

Best Portfolio of the year 2020

Oskar Alvarado (ES) “Where Fireflies Unfold”

Sonja Trabandt (DE) “Tomorrow’s Snow”

Dilla Djalil-Daniel Orphans of The Forest

Klaus K Hotel 14.8.–30.9.2020

Klaus K Hotel Lobby Bulevardi 2-4 00120 Helsinki @helsinkiphotofestival #helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto20

Fearless Orädd Peloton

Open Call 2021

Photograph: Art Is Risk Made Visible © Arno Rafael Minkkinen Hite, Utah, 1997

HELSINKI PHOTO FESTIVAL 2021 Open call begins:

6 December 2020

https://helsinkiphotofestival.com/ helsinkiphotofestival.com

ajan in kuva u tyylikäs n a a b r U uulu vomaski. s kseen k varustueppu, sekä ka r a lee nyt kamer puja tu p e r p n F-Sto kasvomaski! un erää Rajattu ukana Dyota m ja anna /dyota A fi t. o h s i DYOT sää top Katso likassalla kood

Kamerakauppa netissä ja Helsingissä. https://www.topshot.fi/ myynti@topshot.fi 09 536 544 www.topshot.fi

https://holvi.com/shop/helphoto

based on a personal approach by the photographer towards the subject matter without it being evidently biographical. She is interested in seeing any of the above-mentioned types of projects. She is not open to seeing commercial portfolios. Mrs. Becker serves at several international portfolio reviews as a reviewer and sits on a number of online juries. STEFAN BREMER (FI) Open call & seminar

EXPERT INDEX MARIANNE AGER (DK) Open call & portfolio reviews

Marianne Ager (b. 1971) works as a curator of photography and film at Kunstmuseum Brandts in Odense, Denmark. She holds a MA degree from the University of Southern Denmark. Her particular field of interest is the concept of storytelling in literature, music and art/visual culture. She has worked as a culture journalist and wrote reviews of photography books for the Danish Katalog Journal. She was a member of the jury for the Young Nordic Photographer of the Year 2016 award at Fotografiska in Stockholm, Sweden, served on the jury for Riga Photo Biennial’s 2018 talent award and was portfolio reviewer at Riga Photo Biennial in 2019. Ager’s primary interests are fine art photography with a powerful narrative, portraiture with a twist, documentary work and short film projects. ELINA ANTILLA (FI) Portfolio reviews

Elina Antilla (b. 1963) is a Finnish art historian and museum director. Anttila is educated at the University of Helsinki where she graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Art History and in 2001 a Ph.D. in Art History. She was a researcher at the unit for collections and research at the Finnish National Museum in 2001–2008 and has since served in various positions. In 2014, she was named Director of the Museum. KARIN ARINGER (SE) Portfolio reviews

Karin Aringer has been working as a specialist at Bukowskis for ten years now. Her speciality is photographs and contemporary art and she is in charge of the Contemporary Art & Design fine art auction at Bukowskis Sweden. ALEXA BECKER (DE) Open call & portfolio reviews

Alexa Becker is the Acquisitions Editor for photography and art books for Kehrer Verlag. Having obtained her Master’s in Art History from the University of Heidelberg, she started her career at Kehrer in 2003, where she is responsible for selecting and acquiring new photographyrelated projects. Mrs. Becker provides artistic and marketing advice for photographers concerning the content and style of their work at several international portfolio reviews. She enjoys helping photographers and others appreciate the special qualities present in their work - in particular discovering novel, genuine visions of the world. Mrs. Becker offers the point of view of a European art book publisher and is familiar with the overall art and photography market. As an acquiring editor for Kehrer, she is interested in projects that are

Stefan Bremer (FI); Stefan Bremer (b. 1953) has taught in art schools around Finland as well as at the Stockholm School of Photography and the Gothenburg University. He has led photography workshops in Europe and Africa and has exhibited around the world. Bremer was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Photography in 1988 and the Culture Prize of the City of Helsinki in 2011. He was State Art Professor in 1999-2004. NELA EGGENBERGER (AT) Portfolio reviews

Nela Eggenberger studied Art History in Vienna. Since 2013, she is the chief editor of “EIKON – International Magazine for Photography and Media Art”. Previously, she had various editorial activities, e.g. for frame. the state of the art, MUMOK, WestLicht (all based in Vienna). She was a publisher of 5×5. Photo Tracks (2016) and worked on exhibitions in cooperation with KUNST HAUS WIEN (Pas de Deux, 2015), BAWAG P.S.K. Contemporary (Fragile, 2013, with Gregor Ecker), among others. MARIA FAARINEN (FI) Portfolio reviews

Maria Faarinen (b. 1981) is a Chief Curator at The Finnish Museum of Photography. She has been working in the museum since 2007. In addition to expertise in contemporary art and exhibition producing, she has an extensive knowledge of photo archives and different genres of photography. FARIBA FARSHAD (UK) Open call

Fariba Farshad is co-Founder with Michael Benson of Candlestar, a company that specialises in the creation and development of major new international cultural initiatives including Condé Nast College of Fashion and the Prix Pictet, the global photography prize. In 2015, Candlestar inaugurated the first edition of Photo London and in five years, the Fair has established itself as a key event in the international art world calendar. Fariba’s academic career began at UAL, the University of the Arts London, in 1991 when she took up the post of Principal Lecturer in computer design. In 1997 she spearheaded the development of the IT Research and Development Unit, the centre for research in the application of technology in the arts and art education. As a curator and pioneer of creative education, she has been responsible for developing ground-breaking projects, which established the Unit as of centre of excellence for the innovative use of digital media. This brought her many awards, including a BAFTA nomination, during a key period at the University of the Arts. She is renowned as a champion of the work of contemporary Iranian artists. Her ground-breaking exhibition Burnt Generation showcased life in Iran through the lens of eight major photographers, and opened at Somerset House in 2014 and is still touring globally.

ABDELGHANI FENNANE (MA) Open call

Abdelghani Fennane is a poet and essayist, author of works in the fields of poetry, literary criticism, photography criticism. He is the author of a number of books. Among his publications: «La photographie au Maghreb, Paris-Marrakech, Aimance Sud Éditions, 2018». CARINE VAN GREVEN (BE) Open call

Carine Van Gerven (b. 1966) studied art and painting. Connecting people through art and creative projects is one of her goals. After her graduation, she became an art teacher in a secondary art school in Overpelt, Belgium. As an artist, she organised several projects and participated in many exhibitions in Belgium and France. Over the years, photography became her language to express herself. She tells today’s stories in a historical outlook. From 2016-2018 she was Deputy Mayor of Culture and founded the critically acclaimed photo festival ‘Lens op de Mens’ in Overpelt. After two editions of the festival, Carine is the coordinator and creative lead. KAROLIINA KORPILAHTI (FI) Open call

Karoliina Korpilahti is a practical arts management professional. She has gained working experience as a lecturer in aesthetics, cultural producer, public relation manager and coordinator for grants at Frame Contemporary Art Finland Foundation for 5 years before getting the position of the Head of the Programme at The Finnish Institute in Estonia. She holds an MA in Aesthetics from the University of Helsinki. EMANUELA MIRABELLI (IT) Portfolio reviews

Born in Milan, she has always been intrigued by all that is expressed through the images. After high school she started to write movie reviews for magazines, while studying art history at the University. In parallel she developed a deep interest in photography which has translated soon into a profession. She worked for Photo magazine and then became the executive director of Carla Sozzani Gallery, the leading photography gallery in Milan. Since 2003, she is working as photo editor of Marie Claire Italy magazine, where she publishes a huge variety of works, from classic reportages to new languages in contemporary photography, as well fine art portfolios and a huge variety of authors, from new talents to worldwide well-known photographers. Also, she writes texts and holds various lectures about photography and courses about photo editing. She does portfolio reviews in many festivals and she is a jury member of international photo awards. MORITZ NEUMÜLLER (AT) Portfolio reviews

Moritz Neumüller, is a Barcelona-based curator, educator and writer in the field of Photography and New Media. He has worked for institutions such as MoMA New York, La Fábrica Madrid and PhotoIreland Festival. He is the academic director of the Photo Department of IED Madrid, and a regular contributor to magazines such as European Photography, foam and Photoresearcher. Since 2010, he is running The Curator Ship, an online resource for visual artists. Recent curatorial projects for

Daegu Biennial (Korea), Photobook Week Aarhus (DK), and The Birmingham Library (UK). CURT RICHTER (US) Open call & workshop

Curt Richter is an accomplished photographer and lecturer. His works are part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Bibliothèque Nationale, and many more. Born in New York City, he earned a BFA from SUNY Purchase and assisted the architectural photographer Ezra Stoller. As a teacher of photography, he has taught in the US, UK and Finland. RAFAEL RYBCZYNSKI (DK) Open call & portfolio reviews

Rybczynski has been building his professional career in the cultural and creative industries for over 20 years. He is known for fostering emerging and established talents. He provides direction, guidance and inspiration. He has worked for artists, brands and startups with new products and services, creativity and innovation, events, sourcing, creating and publishing digital and visual content. In 2017, he founded Helsinki Photo Festival and since then has been at the helm of this project. He has curated over 100 artists and developed site-specific art exhibitions. Rafael has an MSc degree in Interaction Design from Malmö University in Sweden, and a BA from KEA - Copenhagen School of Design and Technology in Denmark. STIG M. WESTON (NO) Open call & portfolio reviews

Stig Marlon Weston (b. 1974) is based in Oslo, Norway. He shares his time between his own practice as a photo artist, running the studio collective CYAN studio and working as a commercial photographer. Focusing on process based and philosophical photography Stig uses cameraless techniques and analog processes to make his pictures become unique proofs of a truth unseen by human eyes. He wants to connect the subject closer to image and aims to encourage the viewer to reflect on what they expect to see and understand in a photograph. His work has been exhibited in many countries. Also, Stig curates and organizes exhibitions and photography events with other photographers ́ works. NITA VERA (FI) Portfolio reviews

Nita Vera (b. 1986) is a visual artist working with photography, text, cinematography, performance and installation in my artistic practice. Currently she is working on her PhD studies at the Aalto University of Art, Design and Architecture. NAOYA YOSHIKAWA (JP) Open call & portfolio reviews

Artist of Photography, Professor at Osaka University of Arts. Photography, B.F.A., Arts and Culture, M.A. 20002001, Osaka University of Arts. Guest Scholar of Long Island University, New York / Overseas Study Program for Artists of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. Director of Daegu Photo Biennale 2016, Korea. 350 and more numerous exhibitions, festivals, workshops in many countries.

Cultural Centre Stoa, L-gallery

Pyhän Birgitan puisto

Kaapeli

Karhupuisto. Weekend flee market.

Karhupuisto

Karhupuisto by night

Teurastamo

Tähtitorninvuoren puisto

Korjaamo Culture Factory

Korjaamo Culture Factory. Wrap up.

Sörnäistenlaituri

Kansallismuseo, Töölönkatu.

Kansallismuseo. Exhibition take down.

Keran Hallit, Espoo. The festival rests.

And we have so much more great memories...

THANK YOU ALL THE VOLUNTEERS! Communication & Executive assistant Alexandra Kollerova, Héloïse Nonat

Venues Thu Le, Héloïse Nonat, Tasha Tolmacheva, Miao Yu

Design Yi-Chiao Tien, Dayoung Song (product design); Roo Kenney (prototyping); Rafael Rybczynski (exhibition design); Samuel van Dijk, Carita Wallius & Anna Kurmaeva (exhibition layout); Helmi Jäntti & Anna Kurmaeva (layout magazine); Eemil Friman (head of graphic design & animation)

Photography / Video & Drone Marco Montalbano, Adam Nurek

Proofreading Loviisa Kuzay, Jasmine Farling, Alexandra Kollerova Translations Jenni Kytöharju / Grano, Joonas Kervinen (Finnish), Alvar Gullichsen (Swedish) Construction The Panula Brothers - Santeri and Pietari

Artistic Director & Curator Rafael Rybczynski Supporters Minerva Keltanen, Viktor Sohlström and everyone at Natmus, Tasha Tolmacheva, Roberto Thym, Jenny Kanerva, Florence Montmare, Tomi Purovaara, Pentti Kareoja, Tero Thynell, Kristian Schmidt, Johanna Eurakoski, Susann Rännäri, Sebastian Byholm, Matti Santala, Antti Karhu, Deborah Suikkanen, DJ Bunuel, Joose Viljanen, Mikko Koskinen, Jola Nurek, Ad Backus & Vickie Wightman, Sanna Nuutinen, Nilla Rantala, Niki Matheson, Håkan Långstedt, Sami Mannerheimo, Martin Kallenbach, Jouni Kärki, Alvar Gullichsen, volunteers from Treamer, and Noa (the dog)

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS, EVENT PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS! EXHIBITION

TECHNICAL

DESIGN

EMBASSIES

SUPPORT

LOGISTICS

MATERIAL

HOSPITALITY

PRINTING

Artists

7.7. — 30.9.2020

Korjaamo Culture Factory Cultural Centre Stoa Kaapeli Teurastamo Pyhän Birgitan puisto Sörnäistenlaituri Tähtitorninvuoren puisto JCDecaux Finland Klaus K Hotel lobby

Alain Schroeder, Belgia SAVING ORANGUTANS Sademetsien jatkuva harveneminen ja pirstaloituminen uhkaa vakavasti orankeja Indonesian Sumatralla. Palmuöljy- ja kumiviljelmät, hakkuut, tienrakennus, kaivosteollisuus, metsästys ja muu kehitys pakottavat orangit lähtemään luonnollisesta elinympäristöstään sademetsistä. Järjestöt kuten OIC (Orangutan Information Centre) ja sen nopean toiminnan yksikkö HOCRU (Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit) pelastavat eksyneitä, loukkaantuneita tai vangittuja orankeja. SOCP-suojeluohjelmassa (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme) puolestaan hoidetaan orankeja sekä autetaan niitä sopeutumaan ja sosiaalistumaan uudelleen tähän tarkoitukseen suunnitelluissa sairaalatiloissa. Tavoitteena on saattaa orangit takaisin luontoon sekä luoda omillaan pärjääviä ja geneettisesti elinvoimaisia kantoja suojeltuihin metsiin. Ihmisten ja orankien perimä on 97-prosenttisesti sama, minkä voi huomata niiden ihmismäisestä käytöksestä. Tällä hetkellä Sumatran orankeja (Pongo Abelii) on jäljellä vain hieman yli 14 000 ja hiljattain löydettyä Tapanuli-lajia (Pongo tapanuliensis) 800 yksilöä. Kansainvälinen luonnonsuojeluliitto IUCN on määritellyt molemmat äärimmäisen uhanalaisiksi. Alex McBride, Iso-Britannia SOUTH SUDAN: THE ROAD TO PEACE Sudan itsenäistyi anglo-egyptiläisestä hallinnosta vuonna 1956, ja pian tämän jälkeen kaipuu itsenäisyyteen käynnisti 50 vuoden sisällissodan maan pohjois- ja eteläosien välille. Vuonna 2011 sama kaipuu synnytti maailman nuorimman valtion, Etelä-Sudanin. Ei kuitenkaan kestänyt kauaa ennen kuin tuore valtio ajautui omaan sisällissotaansa vuonna 2013. Etniset jännitteet valtaapitävän hallinnon dinkojen ja opposition nuerien välillä eskaloituivat verenvuodatukseksi. Tulitaukosopimuksen solmimishetkellä vuonna 2018 yli 400 000 ihmistä oli kuollut ja miljoonat olivat paenneet kodeistaan. Tämän vuoden helmikuussa kaksi puolta muodostivat yhteisen hallinnon, kun presidentti Sala Kiir nimitti sisällissodassa vastapuolella olleen Riek Macharin ensimmäiseksi varapresidentikseen. Toisiaan vastaan johdettujen armeijoiden on tarkoitus yhdistyä yhdeksi kansalliseksi armeijaksi. Heidän edustamansa heimot tekivät toisilleen sanoinkuvaamattomia hirmutekoja sodan aikana, ja nyt heidän on rakennettava täysivaltaista valtiota yhteistyössä. Vihollisuuksien värittämän historian vuoksi todennäköisyydet ovat nuorta valtiota vastaan, ja viime kädessä luottamus ratkaisee, voiko valtio nousta menneisyyden tuhkasta vai taantuuko se taas liekkeihin. Nämä valokuvat on otettu hallituksen ja kapinallisen opposition vuoden 2018 rauhansopimuksen solmimisen jälkeen. Ne kartoittavat Etelä-Sudanin tasapainoilua kohti uutta rauhaa, ja ihmisten vankkumatonta päämäärää saavuttaa vapaus, josta he haaveilivat uutta valtiota perustettaessa: haavetta, joka syntyi 60 vuotta sitten. Alexis Vasilikos, Kreikka BALANCING ACT Alexis Vasilikosin Balancing Act sarja keskittyy ideaan ihmisten ja heidän ympäristönsä välisistä vähimmäiseleistä. Eleistä, jotka ovat keskeisessä osassa luottamuksen rakentamisessa ja nykyelämässä ylipäänsä. Valokuvaajan teokset koostuvat pääasiassa pienistä ja keskikokoisista painetuista kuvista. Painetut kuvat vaativat intiimiä suhdetta katsojan ja kohteen välille. “Luottamus on meille luonnollista, se on siinä itsessään. Luotamme elämään luonnostamme. Luottamuksesta syntyy tasapainon tunne – luottamus luo tasapainoa ja tasapaino luo luottamusta. Ne kytkeytyvät toisiinsa.” Christina Androulidaki

ARTISTIESITTELYT SUOMEKSI

Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen, Venezuela THE MEANING OF LIFE “Järkytyin, kun nopean terveystarkastuksen jälkeen lääkäri kertoi löydöksestä. Tyhjyys valtasi kehoni. Sen lisäksi, että minulla oli

harvinainen syöpä, se oli ollut oikeassa kiveksessäni jo yli vuoden. Vuoden? Alle vuosi sitten olin menossa naimisiin. Yhtäkkiä ajatukseni pyörivät vinhasti: Kuolenko pian? Mitä tapahtuu unelmilleni? Kiiruhdin kotiin vaimoni luo. Hän halasi minua ja sanoi meidän olevan liian nuoria kohtaamaan tällaista. Maailma loppui, mutta pysyimme vahvoina yhdessä. Rakkautemme sai meidät uskomaan, että voisimme käydä tämän taistelun yhdessä. Leikkaus pahanlaatuisen kasvaimen poistamiseksi sovittiin vain kolmen päivän päähän uutisten kuulemisesta. Kemoterapian sijaan valitsin säännölliset lääkärintarkastukset. Seitsemän kuukautta myöhemmin, joulun aikoihin, veriarvoni olivat taas pilvissä, ja tyhjyys palasi. Nukkuva syöpä heräsi. Se levitti etäpesäkkeitä vatsani imusolmukkeisiin, ja kemoterapia oli ainoa vaihtoehto, jos halusin selvitä hengissä. Ensimmäistä hoitokertaa edeltävänä iltana vaimoni ajeli hiukseni – muutoksen symboli. Seuraavana päivänä rintaani asetettiin erikoinen elementti, portti, jonka kautta kemoterapia pääsisi suoraan suoniini tappamaan jokaisen nopeasti kasvavan solun, olivat ne sitten hyviä tai pahoja. Siitä päivästä alkaen tavoitteeni muuttuivat: sieluni parantaminen, kokonaiseksi ihmiseksi palautuminen ja kotini ja itseni jälleenrakentaminen syövän jättämistä tuhkista. Saavutin nuo kaikki, mutta se ei koskaan poistu kokonaan: olen aina syövästä selvinnyt. Tarkastusten sykli ei pääty koskaan, enkä ole koskaan sama ihminen. Miten identiteetti muuttuu, kun keho joutuu tarkastelun alle ja vaaraan? Miten nuori mies selviää ja jatkaa eteenpäin? Tämän kysymyksen vastauksessa luottamus on tärkein arvo: luottakaa perheeseenne ja läheisiinne, luottakaa prosessiin, luottakaa kehoonne ja teknologiaan.” Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen Ami Vitale, Yhdysvallat THE GUARDIAN WARRIORS Ami Vitale aloitti The Guardian Warriors -projektinsa kymmenen vuotta sitten kuultuaan suunnitelmasta lennättää neljä maailman viimeistä valkoista sarvikuonoa tšekkiläisestä eläintarhasta Keniaan. Se oli epätoivoinen viime hetken ratkaisu pelastaa eläinlaji. Noihin aikoihin ainoastaan kahdeksan tällaista sarvikuonoa oli jäljellä, ja nekin kaikki elivät vangittuina. Kun taiteilija näki tämän lempeän jättiläisen tšekkiläisessä lumessa savupiippujen ja ihmisten ympäröimänä, se tuntui hänestä epäoikeudenmukaiselta. Se toi mieleen muinaiset eläinlajit, jotka ovat eläneet tällä planeetalla miljoonia vuosia kykenemättä lopulta selviytymään ihmiskunnasta. Todistamme juuri tällä hetkellä sukupuuttoa, joka etenee vääjäämättömästi kuin kellon viisari. Salametsästys ei osoita hiljentymisen merkkejä. Mikäli tämänhetkinen tappamisen kierre jatkuu, on täysin mahdollista, että sarvikuonot kuolevat käytännössä kokonaan sukupuuttoon elinaikanamme. Ilman sarvikuonoja, elefantteja ja muita villieläimiä kärsimme myös enemmän kuin vain häviön ekosysteemille. Menetys on häviö mielikuvitukselle, elämän ihmeille ja kauniille mahdollisuuksille. Nähdessämme itsemme osana luontoa ymmärrämme, että pelastamalla luonnon pelastamme myös itsemme. Ami oppi tämän Sudanissa. Tämä on valokuvasarja suhteista ja siteistä ihmisten ja uhanalaisten eläinlajien välillä. Ne tuovat esiin ymmärrystä siitä, miten tärkeää LUOTTAMUS on elinkelpoiselle planeetalle - eikä ainoastaan meidän välillämme vaan myös kaikkien niiden olentojen suhteen, joiden kanssa jaamme maapallomme. Meidän täytyy oppia näkemään maailmamme osana luonnollista maailmaa ja luonnollinen maailma osana maailmaamme. Kohtalomme linkittyvät toisiinsa. Kun menetämme yhden osan luonnosta, se on menetys koko luomakunnalle. Anna Ellen Hamlet, Ruotsi THROUGH YOUR EYES I SEE UNIVERSE Heidän silmänsä kohtaavat heidän istuessaan kasvokkain 20 minuutin ajan, katsoessaan toisiaan silmiin ja meditoidessaan yhdessä hiljaisuudessa. Heidän välisensä raja häviää. Suuren formaatin kamera on Anna Ellen Hamletin vieressä vasemmalla, ja joskus hän ottaa meditaation aikana polaroid-kuvan, mutta kuvattava ei tiedä, milloin. Heidän välillään on keskinäinen luottamus.

Pyrkimys taltioida se, mitä on ihmiskunnan naamion takana. Tarve ymmärtää isompaa kuvaa. Kuvissa esiintyvät henkilöt asuvat ja työskentelevät Meksikon Yandara-joogainstituutissa. He ovat muun muassa joogaopettajia, reikimestareita, astrologeja ja muusikoita. Projekti on kuvattu talvina 2017 ja 2018, ja siinä on yhteensä 23 muotokuvaa. Muotokuvien lisäksi projektiin kuuluu useita ohjattuja meditaatioharjoituksia, mantroja ja musiikkia, jotka on äänitetty osallistujien kanssa. Hamletin on tarkoitus palata Meksikoon seuraavana talvena kuvatakseen Yandaran ympäristön ainutlaatuisia maisemia. Hän kuvaa sitä taianomaiseksi paikaksi, jossa kuiva aavikko suurine kaktuksineen kohtaa Tyynenmeren avarat rannat. Hän suunnittelee tekevänsä kirjan muoto- ja maisemakuvien sekä mantra- ja meditaatioäänien yhdistelmästä.

Anton Ivanov, Venäjä TRUST IN PEACE Trust in Peace -projekti esittää Syyrian kansaa, tuhoisan ja väkivaltaisen konfliktin vuodesta 2011 lähtien repimää maata sekä sitä, miten kaikki kansalaiset tekevät parhaansa palatakseen rauhanomaiseen elämään. Valokuvaaja Anton Ivanov kävi lukuisia keskusteluja paikallisten kanssa paikan päällä. Osan elämä kärsi jatkuvasta sotatilasta, osa heistä oli ollut riittävän onnekkaita päästäkseen pakoon mutta joutuakseen yhä kohtaamaan sodan tuhoisat seuraukset. Hän näki syyrialaisissa kuitenkin enemmän kuin vain tragedian, oli kyse vammautuneesta pioneerista tai nuoresta aleppolaisesta Sidra-tytöstä, joka tarvitsee tekoniveliä kävelemiseen. Järkyttävää katastrofia on vaikea sivuuttaa tai piilottaa. Voi olla yllättävää nähdä, kuinka valokuvaajat näkevät nämä ihmiset ja vieläpä tavoittavat filmille sen voimakkaan toivon tunteen mahdollisesta paluusta rauhanomaiseen elämään. Vierailunsa aikana Syyriaan syyskuussa 2019 Ivan vieraili paikoissa, jotka olivat vastikään olleet sotilaallisen konfliktin ytimessä mutta myös paikoissa, joita sota ei onneksi ollut koskettanut. Hän valokuvasi Hasselbladin kameralla analogiselle filmille lukuisia mustavalkoisia kuvia Scalbiassa, Hamassa, Aleppossa, Homsissa, Sednayahissa, Malooulassa, sodassa täysin tuhoutuneessa Kornazin kaupungissa sekä Damaskoksessa, tämän esikaupungeissa ja eri puolilla Syyriaa. Projekti sai nimensä Trust in Peace vasta ensimmäisten valokuvien painatuksen jälkeen, kun ensivaikutelmat vierailusta olivat asettuneet. Nimeämiseen vaikuttivat ne monet vaikutelmat, joita valokuvaaja sai lukuisista tavallisten syyrialaisten kanssa käydyistä tapaamisista ja keskusteluista. Useimmat heistä eivät olleet murtuneet eivätkä vielä menettäneet uskoaan ihmisyyteen. Nämä ihmiset eivät ole antautuneet kohtalonsa osalta vaan katsovat tulevaisuuteen toiveikkaasti. Projekti ei ainoastaan taltioi sitä, miten uskomattoman haurasta kaikki on vain tuhoutuakseen hetkessä, mutta se myös edustaa ihmisiä, jotka ovat kohdanneet tällaisia katastrofeja sekä pitävät yhä kiinni positiivisesta asenteestaan rauhanomaiseen elämään kaikesta epäonnesta ja kärsimyksestä huolimatta. Arnold Grojean, Belgia KOUNGO FITINI (MINOR ISSUES) Tämä projekti keskittyy Bamakon katulapsiin, Länsi-Afrikassa yleistyvään ilmiöön. Projekti on toteutettu kolmella matkalla Malin pääkaupunkiin. Katuympäristössä luottamuksesta on tullut äärimmäisen herkkä käsite. On kyse selviytymisestä, ja muihin luottaminen voi olla vaarallista. Nämä yhteiskunnan hylkiöt ovat menettäneet luottamuksensa yhteiskuntaan ja useimmissa tapauksissa myös omaan äitiinsä. Paradoksaalisesti tämä teos ei olisi onnistunut ilman lasten luottamusta valokuvaajaan. Katulasten yhteisö on tavoittamaton maailma, johon pääsee vain johtajan luvalla ja vasta sitten, kun alueella on viettänyt pitkän aikaa siihen syventyen. Luottamus on muodostunut projektin ensimmäisessä vaiheessa. Sen aikana Grojean vietti puoli vuotta järjestäen työpajoja, joissa hän opetti lapsia käyttämään analogisia kameroita ja rohkaisi heitä ilmaisemaan itseään ja todellisuuttaan valokuvan ja suullisen

ilmaisun keinoin. Toinen vaihe alkoi kaksi vuotta myöhemmin, kun Grojean päätti kuvata katulapsia näiden asuinalueella myös yöllä. Tämä projektin osa on ollut mahdollinen vain lasten ja valokuvaajan välille muodostuneen luottamuksen ansiosta. Tämän työn tulos on luotu useiden vuosien läheisessä kanssakäymisessä lasten kanssa, ja se esitetään kymmenen erilaisen kirjasen muodossa: Yhdessä kirjasessa on Grojeanin lapsista ottamia kuvia ja kahdeksassa lasten itse luomia kuvia ja tekstejä. Lisäksi kokoelmaan kuuluu sanasto ja tietoa Malin kulttuurista sekä määritelmät lasten kommenteissaan käyttämille sanoille. Berglind Hreiðarsdóttir, Islanti MUTUAL “Mutual on 77 kuvan sarja. Kukin kuva on kahdesta valokuvasta tehty kollaasi. Osa kokoelmasta on esitetty aiemmin: seinälle ripustetuilla läpinäkyvillä albuminsivuilla, jokainen kuva tutussa 10 cm x 15 cm:n koossa. Jokaisella albumin sivulla on taskut neljälle kuvalle. Kokoelman koko on noin 92 cm x 192 cm. Isoäidilläni Lullalla oli rituaali: hän keräsi pieniä albumeita, joihin hän keräsi vain pariskuntien kuvia. Hän piti niitä sohvapöydällä ja esitteli niitä vierailleen, joiden kanssa hän sitten juoruili kuvien henkilöistä. Myös vieraat saivat kuvansa albumeihin, mutta vain pareina.” Berglind omistaa albumit nykyään, sillä isoäiti Lulla nukkui pois viisi vuotta sitten. Berglindin tavoite on esitellä kuvat Lullan tekemänä valokuvasarjana, mutta taiteilija myöntää, ettei se tuntunut oikealta kuvissa esiintyviä henkilöitä kohtaan, sillä se rikkoisi heidän yhteytensä ja luottamuksensa isoäitiä kohtaan. Projekti selkeni, kun Berglind luki Astrida Neimanisin kirjan Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water. Kirjailijan sanoin: Vetenä koemme itsemme ennemmin merellisinä pyörteinä kuin yksinäisinä olentoina... tila meidän ja muiden välillä on samalla yhtä kaukana kuin alkumeri ja lähempänä kuin oma ihomme – saman merellisen alkuperän jäljet kiertävät meissä yhä, pysähtyen hetkeksi tähän kehoon, jota kutsumme ”itseksemme”. Berglindin kuvissa vesi merkitsee sitä tunteiden kirjoa, jota ihmiset tuntevat läheisimpiä kumppaneitaan kohtaan. Luottamus on tunne ja tunteet virtaavat jatkuvasti, siksi luottamamme ihmiset vaihtuvat ajan mittaan. Vuorovesi vaihtuu, kumppanit eroavat, menehtyvät, löytävät uuden yhteyden, ja kiertokulku jatkuu. Useimmissa tapauksissa henkilöiden kasvojen peittäminen anonymisoi heidät, mutta se voi myös piilottaa heidän ikänsä, ihonvärinsä, sukupuolensa ja seksuaalisen suuntautumisensa. Jäljellä on vain toisensa valinneiden ihmisten kehonkieli. Carl-Mikael Ström, Ruotsi INEVITABLY IT WILL RAIN Carl-Mikaelin uusin projekti Inevitably it will rain perustuu lainaukseen Ludwig Wittgensteinilta: ”Sitä, minkä voi näyttää, ei voi sanoa” (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus). Tässä projektissa hän haastaa ajatuksen, että valokuvaus on kieli. Teoksessaan tekijä kysyy katsojalta: Mitä hänen valokuvissaan voidaan näyttää, mutta ei sanoa? Carl-Mikael uskoo, että se, miten ihmiset näkevät ja kokevat kuvia, heijastaa heidän kulttuurista tietämystään, oppimistaan, kieltään ja elämänkokemustaan. Taitelija kutsuu tätä ”loogiseksi kuvaksi”, esimerkiksi: kun näemme kuvan omenasta, tunnistamme kohteen ”omenaksi” ”todellisen kuvan” sisällä. Hän kutsuu kaikkea, mitä voimme tunnistaa kuvasta, ”loogiseksi kuvaksi”. Hän esittää, että kuvia on kahdenlaisia: ”todellisia” ja ”mahdollisia”. ”Todelliset kuvat” esittävät aihettaan kohteena, joka on ”loogisen kuvan” sisällä. Tällä hän tarkoittaa kuvan fyysistä todellisuutta: kehystä, kirjaa, kangasta, näyttöä jne. Yllä mainittuihin nimityksiin sisältyy kysymys, pystyykö ihminen astumaan rajoittuneen mielensä ulkopuolelle saavuttaakseen ”mahdolliset kuvat”. ”Mahdolliset kuvat” ulottuvat ”todellisen kuvan” rajojen ulkopuolelle. Niissä on surrealistisia elementtejä, runoutta

ja tunteita, joita ei voi täysin tunnistaa tai selittää kielen tai järjen avulla. Siksi Carl-Mikael uskoo, että skeptisyys kuvan kehysten sisällä olevia kohteita kohtaan on valokuvien katsomisen edellytys. Runouden on oltava käytännöllistä ollakseen merkityksellistä. Valokuvan ja sen esittämän todellisen kohteen välillä on isomorfinen jännite. Hän näkee, että tässä jännitteessä on valokuvauksen voima. Tässä sarjassa esitettyjen valokuvien tavoitteena on tulla nähdyksi visuaalisina mielen tikkaina, joiden avulla katsoja voi ylittää ”todellisen” ja ”mahdollisen” kuvan välisen kuilun. Carrie ja Eric Tomberlin, Yhdysvallat SEA LEVEL RISE: VISUALIZING CLIMATE CHANGE On vaikeaa luottaa sellaiseen, mitä ei näe. Tutkijat kehottavat meitä toimimaan nyt, jotta ilmastonmuutos ei tuhoaisi planeettaamme, mutta data on näkymätöntä, ja muutos on hidasta eikä vaikuta kaikkiin tasaisesti. Ympäristöongelmia vuosien ajan valokuvanneet Carrie ja Eric pitävät ilmastomuutosta esittäviä kuvia rajoittuneina ongelman vaiheittaisen ja vaikeasti tavoitettavan luonteen vuoksi. He ovat nyt vuosien ajan tehneet töitä uuden valokuvauksen tyypin parissa. Taiteilijat kutsuvat tätä nimellä time distillation, ajallinen tiivistäminen. Tämän uuden paradigman avulla he voivat keskittyä tiettyyn ajanjaksoon ja litistää sen panoraamiseen tilaan, minkä he myöhemmin tiivistävät yksittäiseksi allegoriseksi narratiiviksi, joka pystyy kertomaan monimutkaisemman tarinan kuin yksittäinen valokuva. Tämä prosessi muistuttaa ympäristöongelmia siltä osin, että ajan kuluminen paljastaa tilanteen vakavuuden selvemmin kuin mikään yksittäinen hetki. Havainnollistaakseen ongelmaa Carrie ja Eric matkustivat Bangladeshiin, jota kansainvälinen tiedeyhteisö pitää yhtenä ilmastonmuutokselle alttiimmista alueista. Vaikka Bangladesh kohtaa näennäisesti ylitsepääsemättömiä haasteita, maan asukkaat eivät tyydy vain selviytymään, vaan sopeutuvat nerokkaasti ja lannistumatta hyödyntäen yhteisöllisiä ratkaisuja. He ovat esimerkki siitä, miten paikallisella, kansallisella ja kansainvälisellä tasolla voidaan ryhtyä toimeen ilmastonmuutoksen vaikutusten hidastamiseksi ja niihin sopeutumiseksi. Bangladeshissa opeteltavia asioita voidaan soveltaa muihin tiheään asutettuihin, lähellä merenpintaa sijaitseviin alueisiin, joita ovat muun muassa Miami, Tokio, Shanghai ja Amsterdam. Carrien ja Ericin ylin toive on, että parempi kuvamateriaali johtaa vahvempaan luottamukseen ja sitä kautta toimintaan. Chimera Singer, Yhdysvallat TOURISTS AND LANDMARKS Halu dokumentoida kokemuksia jaetaan ympäri maapallon. Turistikohteet ovat maamerkkejä, joita määrittävät ja leimaavat toistuva liikehdintä, poseeraus ja valokuvat. Katsoessamme ystävien selfie-otoksissa tai mainostauluilla valokuvia turistikohteista, osoitamme luontaisesti itseoppimaamme epäluottamusta kuvia kohtaan. Useimmat meistä omaksuvat tällöin terveen optimistisen skeptismin näkökulman. Toisin kuin aikoinaan, jolloin valokuvat merkitsivät meille realismia, emme tietoisesti tänä päivänä näe kuvien vastaavan visuaalisen kokemuksen todellisuutta. Koska otamme valokuvia päivittäin, käytämme aktiivisesti erilaisia keinoja “parantaaksemme” kuviamme. Tiedostamme, että lakeus tai kauneus, kuten vesiputouksia ja rantoja Islannissa kuvaavissa valokuvissa, on usein autenttisen kuvauksen ohella saatu aikaan jättämällä jotain tarkoituksellisesti pois. Näissä kahdessa valokuvasarjassa Chimera Singer kuvaa kamerallaan kohteita, jotka useimmiten rajataan pois valokuvista, kuten muita turisteja ja ihmisten valmistamia käytännönläheisiä objekteja. Ensimmäinen valokuvasarja otettiin useiden vierailujen aikana Islannissa. Näissä valokuvissa Singer dokumentoi turisteja, mutta riisuu heiltä kameransa esittääkseen kysymyksen: Miten valokuvaaminen muotoilee matkakokemuksen? Mitä turistit rajaavat pois valokuvistaan? Mitä nämä erilaiset sisällytykset/rajaukset kertovat meille ihmisyydestä ja siitä, miten dokumentoimme matkakokemuksen?

Toisessa kuvasarjassaan Singer valokuvasi maisemia Interstate 40 -moottoritien varrella Yhdysvalloissa. Sen sijaan, että hän olisi kohdistanut kameransa turisteihin itseensä, Singeriä vetivät puoleensa objektit, jotka turistit rajaavat pois valokuvistaan. Hän tunnustaa myös itse toimivansa samoin. Pois jätetyt objektit muuttuvat maamerkeiksi omilla ehdoillaan, kun niistä tulee symboleita sille, miten koristelemme valittuja “maisemallisia pisteitä” ja kuratoimme näiden maisemien kuvausta rajauksella. Näillä kuvilla Singer tuo esiin oppimamme epäluottamuksen valokuvia kohtaan ja välittää tietoisuutta kohteista, jotka matkakuvissa sivuutetaan.

Christian Bobst, Sveitsi THE SUFI BROTHERHOODS OF SENEGAL Senegalin muslimiväestöstä 95 prosenttia on suufilaisia, mikä on enemmän kuin missään muussa maailman muslimiväestössä. Suufilaisille rauha ja avarakatseisuus ovat tärkeitä arvoja, ja hengellisyys ja Jumalan läheisyys ovat tärkeämpiä kuin opinkappaleet ja uskonnollisten sääntöjen tiukka noudattaminen. Senegalissa ei ole koskaan tapahtunut iskuja tämän kansainvälisen terrorin aikakauden aikana, toisin kuin esimerkiksi naapurimaissa Malissa ja Mauritaniassa. Länsiafrikkalaista maata pidetäänkin vakauden keskuksena. Tämä liittyy vahvasti senegalilaisten luottamukseen uskontoaan ja hengellisiä johtajiaan kohtaan. Kun heimojohtajat vaativat aseisiin käymistä Ranskaa vastaan siirtomaa-aikoina, sheikki Amadou Bamba Mbacke (1853–1928), Muridin suufiveljeskunnan perustaja, opetti lukuisille seuraajilleen, että todellinen jihad ei ole aseellista sotaa, vaan taistelua sisäisiä demoneita vastaan. Tänä päivänäkin useimmat senegalilaiset tukevat vahvasti Bamban pasifistisia opetuksia. Senegalissa on voimakkaita henkilökultteja neljän suurimman suufiveljeskunnan perustajien ja näiden jälkeläisten ympärillä. Vaikka pyhimykset ovat kiellettyjä useimmissa islamilaisissa maissa, suufiveljeskuntien perustajaisien nimiä ja kuvia voi nähdä värikkäiden bussien kyljissä, julisteina kauppakeskuksissa ja tekstiilitehtaissa sekä lähes kaikissa takseissa. Vaikka Senegalin hallinto on sekulaarinen, islam on maassa paljon muutakin kuin vain uskonto. Se on elämäntapa, joka läpäisee koko yhteiskunnan. The Sufi Brotherhoods of Senegal valokuvaessee näyttää, miten suufiveljeskunnat ja niiden uskonnolliset johtajat muovaavat Senegalin yhteiskuntaa ja miten he säilyttävät valtansa ja vaurautensa, mutta myös maan rauhan ja vakauden, luottamalla islamin suvaitsevaiseen muotoon dogmaattisten oppien ja sorron sijaan. Ciro Battiloro, Italia SANTA LUCIA Etelä-Italiassa on paikkoja, joiden seinissä ja asukkaiden ihoissa on parantumattomien haavojen jättämiä arpia. Näissä haavoissa on historiallisia muistoja ihmisten todellisista kasvoista. Näissä haavoissa kasvaa yksinäisyys raadollisimmassa ja rakkaus vilpittömimmässä muodossaan: se on piilotettu tänne, kauas kulutusyhteiskunnan pinnallisuudesta ja luokitteluista. Ciron kuvat paljastavat intiimit näkymättömät todellisuudet ja pyrkimyksen palauttaa elämän tarkoitus ihmissuhteiden, naapuruston ja sen asukkaiden kautta. Vuosien 1950 ja 1970 välillä Cosenzan kaupunki koki suuren väestön ja rakentamisen muutoksen, kun ihmisiä muutti sinne maaseudulta. Samaan aikaan historiallinen keskusta alkoi kuitenkin rapistua. Kaupungin laajentumista ei säädelty, joten se noudatti keinottelun, korruption ja voittojen maksimoinnin kirjoittamattomia sääntöjä. Talouteen ja yliopistokoulutukseen liittyvät toiminnot sekä yleiset julkiset palvelut siirtyivät kaupungin uudempaan pohjoisosaan rikkaiden perheiden mukana. Myöhemmin, kun kunnallisten asuntojen naapurustot Via Popilia, Serra Spiga ja San Vito rakennettiin, viimeisetkin asukkaat jättivät historiallisen keskustan. Tämä toinen väestökato paikallishallinnon laiminlyönteihin yhdistettynä kiihdytti sosiaalista epätasa-arvoa. Santa Lucian alue Cosenzan historiallisessa keskustassa oli

joskus kaupunkielämän ydin. Alue tunnetaan myös ”lucciole”kaupunginosana eli prostituutioalueena, ja se on muusta kaupungista erillinen kokonaisuus: rinnakkaismaailma, jossa ihmiset elävät arkeaan rapistuvien rakennusten keskellä. Santa Luciassa yhä asuvat harvat perheet ja alkuperäisasukkaat ovat tehneet tietoisen valinnan olla hylkäämättä paikkaa, joka suojelee heidän identiteettiään – rakennusten romahtamisvaarasta huolimatta. Paikallisten lisäksi alueella asuu ulkomaisia perheitä, joista osa on romaneita. Cocoa Laney, Yhdysvallat BELLE Kesällä 2019 Cocoa vieraili viidessätoista eri kaupungissa tavaten nuoria naisia ja muunsukupuolisia ihmisiä, joista monet kutsuivat hänet yöpymään kodeissaan. Keskustelut häpeästä, uskonnosta ja sukupuoli-identiteetistä muuttivat matkan pyhiinvaellukseksi läheisyyden ja yhteyden löytämisen äärelle seuduilla, jotka voivat tuntua jopa parhaiten ne tunteville samanaikaisesti kotoisilta ja saavuttamattomilta. Sen ohella, että Alabama on jatkuvasti otsikoissa koskien naisten oikeuksia Trumpin valtakaudella, taiteilija kiinnostui selvittämään, miten etelävaltioiden uusi sukupolvi määrittää suhdettaan valtioon ja tulee toimeen eteläiselle identiteetille ominaisten ristiriitojen ja äärimmäisyyksien seassa. Nämä ristiriidat ovat erityisen ilmeisiä arkkityypissä etelävaltioiden naisihanteesta, jonka vahvuuksiin usein liitetään lannistumattomuus mutta myös kuuliaisuus ja kainous. Matkan edetessä jokainen projektin osallistuja kirjoitti kirjeen tuntemattomalle naiselle, jonka Cocoa tapaisi seuraavalla pysähdyksellään, jakaen tarinoita ja luoden kannustavaa verkostoa muukalaisten parissa. Tuloksena syntynyt työ avaa vaihtoehtoisen etelävaltiolaisuuden nyansseja nuorten ihmisten moninaisesta joukosta ja tarjoaa naisnäkökulman elämään nykypäivän Alabamassa. Tämän ohella se on taiteilijan henkilökohtainen yritys tulla sujuiksi paikan kanssa, jota hän yhä kutsuu kodikseen. Cop Shiva, Intia STREET AS STUDIO Siirtolaisen suhde kaupunkiin on pirstaleinen. Bangaloren metropoli voi olla haastava ympäristö: se ei tarjoa helppoja ratkaisuja alkukantaisen yhteenkuuluvuuden tarpeen täyttämiseksi, ja se syyttää siirtolaisia epäluotettaviksi. Muotokuvat ovat intiimi valokuvauksen laji. Malli on oman kulttuurisen kontekstinsa saartama. Lavasteet ja asennot auttavat poseerauksessa ja hahmon luomisessa kameralle. Studiokuvaus mahdollistaa hahmon ja maiseman yhdistämisen. Usein taustana on maalattu tai esittävä maisema, joka sallii toiveiden täyttämisen. Valokuvaaja vastaa kuvan asettelusta: poistaa ylimääräisen ja säilyttää olennaisen. Muotokuva ikuistetaan todisteeksi hetkellisestä totuudesta. Lavastuksen heijastus tallennetaan filmille, ja sen ainoa toinen jälki jää muistiin. Cop Shiva hakee intiimiyttä kameran objektiivin läpi ja tallentaa kaupungissa asuvien siirtolaisten arkea. He ovat tulleet tänne etsimään elinkeinoa. Shiva on ollut heidän kanssaan tekemisissä kuukausien ajan. Vasta saatuaan heidän luottamuksensa hän pyytää heitä malleikseen. Street as Studio projektin tavoitteena on lisätä heidän yhteenkuuluvuuden tunnettaan kaupungissa sekä valokuvaajan ja tämän kameran edustamassa yhteisössä. Shiva haluaa myös korostaa siirtolaisten asemaa koko metropolin edustamassa järjestelmässä. Studiokuvauksen perinteiden mukaisesti taustoina toimivat ulkomaisemat, erityisesti paikallishallinnon tilaamat seinämaalaukset, joiden tarkoitus on ”kaunistaa” katuja. Ne ovat räikeitä maalauksia kulttuurimonumenteista, eksoottisista eläimistä, jumalista ja jumalattarista ja vaikuttavista maisemista – niistä kaikki poikkeavat jyrkästi eletystä todellisuudesta, jossa sekulaarit ja kosmopoliitit työntekijät ponnistelevat tullakseen huomatuksi ja löytääkseen läheisyyttä. Shiva pyysi näitä aitoja kansanomaisia hahmoja poseeraamaan seinämaalausten edessä luodakseen intiimejä muotokuvia.

Dilla Djalil Daniel, Indonesia THE TRUST OF THE MATTER The Friends of the Asian Elephant Hospital (FAE), The Trust of the Matter kuvien kuvauspaikka, on maailman ensimmäinen norsusairaala. Se keskittyy yksinomaan näiden jättiläismäisten mutta herkkien ja tunteellisten eläinten hoitamiseen. Sairaalan perusti vuonna 1993 thaimaalainen nainen, Soraida Salwala. Sairaala sijaitsee Mae Yao kansallispuistossa Thaimaan Lampangissa, 75 kilometriä Chiang Maista. FAE on kansalaisjärjestö, joka hoitaa sairaita norsuja ilmaiseksi ja tarjoaa myös ilmaisen majoituksen mahouteille (norsujen hoitajille), jotta nämä voivat asua paikan päällä sairaalassa työskentelyn ajan. Sairaalan kesyt norsut ovat kärsineet väkivallasta tai ne ovat sairaita, loukkaantuneita tai tiineenä. Monet norsuista kuuluvat norsuturismileireille, joita on muodostunut ympäri Chiang Main lähialueita. Useimmat norsut ovat sairaalassa väliaikaisesti, mutta viisi norsua on asunut siellä pysyvästi alusta saakka. Kolme niistä on pysyvästi vammautuneita maamiinojen uhreja, joista kahden, Motalan ja Moshan, jalka on amputoitu polven alapuolelta. Norsut ovat kuitenkin melko onnekkaita, sillä vuonna 2008 Mosha sai ensimmäisen jalkaproteesinsa, joka on räätälöity ja suunniteltu erityisesti juuri sille. Se on maailman ensimmäinen jalkaproteesin saanut norsu. Motala puolestaan sai omansa vuonna 2009. Välillä Motala ja Mosha kävelevät laitoksen ympäristössä proteesiensa avulla. Eläinlääkäreillä ja hoitajilla kesti vuosia kuntouttaa norsut, ja toipuminen on ollut pitkä matka, joka on vaatinut jatkuvia hoitoja, kärsivällisyyttä ja rakastavaa hoivaa. Kaikilla viidellä vakituisella norsuasukkaalla on traumaattisia kokemuksia, sillä niitä ei ole vain satutettu fyysisesti, vaan ne on myös rikottu henkisesti. Eläinlääkäreiltä, mahouteilta ja muilta sairaalan työntekijöiltä vaaditaan kärsivällisyyttä ja omistautuneisuutta, jotta he voivat rakentaa keskinäistä luottamusta ja tunnesidettä näiden valtavien eläinten kanssa niiden pitkällä tiellä kohti kuntoutumista. Dorota Stolarska, Puola IT’S ALWAYS SUMMER THERE AND NOTHING CHANGES Niin kauan kuin Dorota muistaa hänen isovanhempansa asuivat samassa asunnossa eikä noiden vuosien aikana mikään koskaan muuttunut siellä. Jopa vuosia heidän kuolemansa jälkeen asunto säilyi ennallaan: samat huonekalut, verhot ja matkamuistot. Vaikka taiteilija ei itse ole koskaan asunut siellä, asunto alkoi symbolisoida hänelle vahvaa rikkumatonta suhdetta perheeseensä, osaa hänen identiteestistään. Kun vuonna 2019 asunto remontoitiin ja laitettiin myyntiin, Dorota tunsi kuin menettäisi osan itsestään. Remontin jälkeen mikään ei näyttänyt samalta vaan jäljellä oli enää tyhjä tila valkoisilla seinillä ja vailla historiaa. Tässä tyhjässä asunnossa, jossa oli vain muutamia huonekaluja enää jäljellä, Dorota päätti harjoittaa muistiaan lapsuutensa leikkejä muistelemalla. Aloittamalla kuurupiilosta ja päätyen herättämään henkiin viehätyksensä tuolija nojatuolirakennelmia kohtaan hän lopulta päätyi pukeutumaan isoäitinsä vaatteisiin. Dorota omisti paljon huomiota kaikelle isovanhempiensa omaisuudelle yrittäen sijoittaa ne alkuperäisille paikoilleen. Käydessään läpi heidän matkamuistojaan eksoottisista maista, kuten maailman laidoilta lähetetyistä kirjeistä ja nykyaikaisista huonekaluista, taiteilija oivalsi, ettei ollut koskaan esittänyt kysymyksiä isovanhempiensa taustoista. Hän ei ollut myöskään koskaan pohtinut sitä, miksi asunto sijaitsi kaupungin keskustassa lähetystöjen ja valtiollisten virastojen tavoin. Lapsena Dorota ei ollut tietoinen siitä, että tämä ei ollut lainkaan tyypillistä puolalaisille kodeille, mutta vartuttuaan vanhemmaksi hän oppi, että syynä olivat isoisän sidokset kommunistiseen puolueeseen. Se ei ollut mikään salaisuus, mutta edes hänen isoäitinsä ei tiennyt, mikä isoisän rooli oli ollut. Pian taiteilija ymmärsi, että hänen perheensä historia oli rakennettu salaisuuksien ympärille. Näiden valkoisten seinien äärellä epävarmuus valtasi hänet, ja hän menetti uskon muistiinsa. Hän ei voinut herättää henkiin muistoja esineistä samalla tavalla kuin

oli kyennyt aiemmin tekemään. Tämän vuoksi valokuvaaja päätti hyödyntää kaikkia isovanhempiensa tavaroita luodakseen jotain uutta, surrealistisia installaatioita ja tilanteita. Elena Kollatou ja Leonidas Toumpanos, Kreikka WHERE WE DO NOT BELONG Nord Stream 2 kaasuputki on sekoittanut Itämeren ympäristön geopolitiikkaa ja synnyttänyt sekä liittolaisuuksia että erimielisyyksiä naapurimaiden välille. Nord Stream 2 aiheuttaa geopoliittista sekasortoa, sillä Saksan ja Venäjän välinen liiketoiminta voi vaikuttaa voimakkaasti Keski-Euroopan geopoliittiseen maisemaan, vaarantaa monien Euroopan maiden turvallisuuden ja syventää taloudellista kuilua eri maiden välillä. Itä-Euroopan maat, Pohjoismaat ja Baltian maat katsovat, että putki tekee EU:sta riippuvaisen venäläisestä kaasusta, jolloin Venäjä saa liikaa valtaa ja Ukrainan asema horjuu sen menettäessä kaasunsiirtomaksut. Toisaalta Pohjois-Eurooppa ja Saksa uskovat, että taloudelliset hyödyt ovat suurempia kuin nämä ongelmat. Tämä kiistanalainen hanke lähtökohtanaan Elena ja Leonidas lähtivät matkalle Itämeren rannikoille paljastaakseen salaisuuksia, seuratakseen liittoumia ja tutkiakseen Itämeren ristiriitoja. Löydökset olivat samaan aikaan sekä konkreettisia että epäselviä: vaikeasti määriteltävät tilanteet edustavat arkea näiden maiden asukkaille, jotka toimivat poliittisina välittäjinä idän ja lännen välillä. Eri todellisuuksien kerrostaminen yhteen kuvaan ilmentää tätä epäselvyyttä, sillä yksittäiset kuvaukset näyttävät vain palasia totuudesta. Revityt kuvat muodostavat visuaalisen tarinan, joka kutsuu katsojaa tekemään omat johtopäätöksensä. Elise Corten, Belgia WARMER THAN THE SUN Warmer than the sun on jatkuva prosessi, jossa Elise Corten dokumentoi äitinsä elämää. Kameran avulla hän määrittelee äidillisen läheisyyden ja luottamuksen uudelleen. Kuvaamalla äitinsä päivittäisiä rituaaleja Corten tarkastelee, kuka äiti on – ei vain äitinä vaan persoonana. Kuvat ilmentävät äidin suostumusta paljastaa henkiset ja fyysiset muutoksensa tyttärelleen. Teos tasapainottelee henkilökohtaisen ja yleismaailmallisen välillä: se näyttää äidin tyttärelle, tyttären äidille ja itsen itselle. Tästä valokuvattujen muotokuvien, asetelmien ja maisemien kokoelmasta muodostuu intiimi monografia äiti-tytärsuhteesta. Elizabeth M Sanders, Yhdysvallat BE HERE TO LOVE ME Be Here to Love Me valokuvaprojekti keskittyy Elizabethin isän kamppailuun dementian kanssa sekä Elizabethin ja tämän äidin vaikeaan suhteeseen. Suhde on muuttunut joksikin kauniimmaksi samalla kun isä muistaa vuosi vuodelta vähemmän. Perheen jaettu suru ja rakkaus isää kohtaan on käynnistänyt suuren muutoksen. Valokuvauksen kautta heistä on tullut liittolaisia. Elizabethin äidistä on tullut valokuvaajan yhteistyökumppani ja avustaja, joka pitelee heijastinta tai valmistelee isän muotokuvausta varten. Isä ei enää voi kertoa tarinoita, joten valokuvaaja etsii häntä kuvien kautta ja hyödyntää fiktiota täyttäessään isän elämäntarinan aukkoja omilla kuvitelluilla tai muunnelluilla muistoillaan. Miten muutoin voi paikallistaa toisen persoonan, kun tuntemamme henkilö ei ole enää sama? Tämän projektin kautta Elizabeth on oppinut ymmärtämään prosessin arvoa ja sitä, mitä kuvan luominen voi tehdä kuvassa esiintyville henkilöille. Kuvasta tulee talismaani, jossa säilytetään tutun kanssakäymisen voimaa. Kuvan avulla voi toipua. Eric Hanson, Yhdysvallat LIBERAL GUN OWNERS Luotatko näihin ihmisiin? Et tunne heitä, mutta kuvissa heillä kaikilla on ampuma-ase, mikä saattaa vaikuttaa heistä muodostamaasi ensivaikutelmaan. Jotkut voivat luottaa näihin ihmisiin enemmän, sillä he vaikuttavat vahvoilta, itsevarmoilta ja päteviltä pidellessään aseitaan. He pystyvät suojelemaan itseään ja perhettään. Monet

voivat välittömästi tuntea epäluottamusta heitä kohtaan. Aseet symboloivat karkeaa yksilöllisyyttä ja enteilevät väkivaltaa. Jotkut voivat jopa ajatella, että asetta pitelevä henkilö on häiriintynyt eikä häneen voi luottaa lainkaan. Muuttuisiko mielipiteesi, jos tietäisit henkilöiden poliittisen vakaumuksen? Vaikka aseenomistajia pidetään usein ennemmin oikeistolaisina, kaikki kuvissa esiintyvät henkilöt tunnustautuvat liberaaleiksi, ja heillä on moninaisia taustoja ja kokemuksia. Joukossa on transsukupuolinen pari, joka asuu konservatiivisessa osavaltiossa; venäläinen maahanmuuttaja, joka näkee ampuma-aseharjoittelun taistelulajina; meksikolaisten maahanmuuttajien poika, jonka mielestä vähemmistöjen on aseistauduttava suojellakseen itseään, koska poliisi ei voi tai ei halua suojella heitä; hautausurakoitsija, joka näkee kuolemaa päivittäin mutta on päättänyt suojella perhettään asein; ja opettaja, joka omistaa aseita, koska pitää ampumista meditatiivisena ja rentouttavana. Nämä valokuvat pakottavat katsojat kohtaamaan sen, miten heidän omat käsityksensä ja stereotyypit vaikuttavat heidän luottamukseensa toista ihmistä kohtaan ensikohtaamisella. Katsojan ensimmäinen ajatus siitä, luottaisiko näihin ihmisiin vai ei, perustuu ainoastaan henkilöiden ulkonäköön ja näiden pitelemään esineeseen. Kun yhteiskunta polarisoituu ja ihmiset etääntyvät toisistaan, on tärkeää, että ajattelemme luottamusta elettyjen kokemusten kautta ohikiitävien vaikutelmien sijaan.

Toivon, että tämä voi avata ihmisille mahdollisuuden löytää omia henkilökohtaisia tulkintojaan ja tilaa hengittää.

Florence Montmare, Ruotsi/Yhdysvallat SCENES FROM AN ISLAND “No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” — Meditation XVII by John Donne Näyttelyn Scenes from an Island kantava teema on ihmisyyden katoavaisuus ja juurtumattomuus sekä maan ja veden kohtaamispaikkojen alkuvoimainen maisema. Niitä kuvataan Ingmar Bergmanin näyttämöllepanolla kaukaisen ruotsalaisen Fårön saaren karuissa ja kuvauksellisissa maisemissa. Siellä luonnon elementit on riisuttu paljaaksi, ja kiviä ja vettä tutkiskellen voi katsoa peiliin ja nähdä heijastuksessa syvimmän olemuksensa. Nykytilanteessamme teos koskettaa nyt katsojaansa entistäkin enemmän. Donnen runo kertoo erottamattomuuden ja yhteyden ajatuksesta. Todellisen kodin etsinnästä luontosuhteesta lähtien tuli lopulta läsnäolon ja tasapainon etsimisen harjoitus. Yhteiskunnassa, jossa neutraalius, sekularismi ja individualismi hallitsevat, suhde luontoon on lähes uskonnollinen tapa löytää yhteyksiä. Luonnon kanssa harmoniassa eläminen on utopistinen unelma; suhde, joka on sekä ristiriitainen että muun poissulkeva. Elämän puolessavälissä löysin itseni seisomasta karulla rannalla, autiolla ja kivisellä maalla katse Itämerta kohti. Minut oli kutsuttu Ingmar Bergmanin rannalle piilotettuun taloon. Kuvasin aluksi vain maisemaa. Ajan kuluessa lisäsin kuviin ihmishahmoja ja lavastin skenaarioita eri paikoissa. Kuvissa näkyy sisä- ja ulkotiloja; sekä maisemia ilman ihmisiä että maisemia, joiden läpi kulkee ihmishahmoja. Liikkeessä olevat kehot luovat kontrastin aution maaston ja sen dramaturgian, kuluneiden vuorten, maan, veden ja ilman kanssa. Katoavaisuuden mietiskelyä; keho, liike ja sitä ympäröivät luonnonvoimat. Koko rikkumattoman horisontin näkeminen on tärkeää psykologisen tasapainon kannalta. Karujen rantojen yllä horisonttia rikkovat vain vanhan kirkon torni, tuulimyllyt ja muutama mäntymetsikkö. Rikon horisontin tarkoituksellisesti käyttäen hillittyä ja huomaamatonta palettia, jotta pääsen eroon tilan perspektiivistä ja tasapainosta ja voin hämmentää ajan ja paikan tajua. Tämän voi saavuttaa, kun haluaa pysähtyä mietiskelemään poissa häiriötekijöiden ja mukavuuksien ulottuvilta. Kuorin päältä pois kerroksia päästäkseni alkuvoimien lähteelle ja rakennan sitten viitekehyksen uudelleen. Kun osallistumme ihmisyyteen, taiteella ja luontosuhteella on kyky parantaa. Taiteella on voima ylittää rajoja ja luoda muutosta.

Fotografiepolak, Belgia REAL HEROES NEVER SLEEP!!! Fotografiepolak on päässyt kuvaamaan hetkiä Antwerpenin yliopistollisessa sairaalassa COVID-19-pandemian aikana. Taudin eturintaman hetkien todistaminen oli rankkaa, mutta niiden ikuistaminen oli äärimmäisen tärkeää. ”Todelliset sankarit eivät nuku... Luota heihin, koska he pelastavat henkiä. Kaikki kunnia sairaalan työn sankareille!” Fotografiepolak

Taiteilijan lausunto Suurin osa työstäni perustuu prosessiin ja on poikkitaiteellista – aina ideasta ja keskusteluista tuotantoon ja toteutukseen. Samankaltaisiin aiheisiin paluu, niiden kertominen eri tavoin — kuorin pois kerroksia koskettaen elämän syvimpiä alueita — tapahtuipa se sitten elokuvan, valokuvan, performanssin tai installaation keinoin. Identiteetti, juurtumattomuus ja katoavaisuus ovat minua kiinnostavia teemoja. Teokset ovat yleensä sidottuja tiettyyn paikkaan, jossa lavastan eri skenaarioita, joissa puolestaan kehon läsnä- ja poissaolo ovat vertauskuva väliaikaisuudelle ja katoavaisuudelle. Lähestyn asiaa laajennetun ajan näkökulmasta niin, että katsoja voi tarkastella kieleen haudattua syvempää tarkoitusta. Prosessi muistuttaa meditaatiota, jota olen harjoittanut jo vuosien ajan. Aluksi mielen läpi virtaa eri ajatuksia, ennen kuin se puhdistuu ja löytää tyyneyden. Aloitan silloin tyhjästä tilasta, kunnes maisema täyttyy kohtauksista ja rituaaleista ja henkilöhahmoja alkaa astua esiin. Olen kiinnostunut tutkimaan kuvien ja sirpaloituneiden, allegoristen tarinoiden maailmaa ilman selvän kerronnan tarvetta; toivon, että ne toimivat katalyyttinä katsojan omille kuvitelmille.

Geir Moseid, Norja UNDERTAKING Undertaking-sarja tutkii, missä määrin sosiaaliset, poliittiset ja psykologiset tekijät muovaavat nyky-yhteiskuntaa. Lisäksi se tutkii, miten hallinnon kontrolli, ryhmämentaliteetit ja muukalaisviha muokkaavat yhteiskunnan käyttäytymistä ja miten nämä rakenteet vaikuttavat yhteiseloomme ja kollektiiviseen luottamukseen. Maailma on keskellä poliittista murrosta. Retoriset latteudet, niin aikansa eläneitä kuin ne ovatkin, vahvistavat kauan sitten juurtuneita vihan tunteita. Pelosta näyttää tulleen tärkein eri ryhmien keskinäistä suhtatumista määrittävä tekijä. Totuudesta on tullut merkitykseltään vaihteleva termi uutisten, tieteen ja valokuvauksenkin saralla. Tätä näennäistä muuntuvuutta kiihdyttää kansankiihotus ja populismin ajama mielipiteiden polarisointi. Tässä uudessa viitekehyksessä faktan ja fiktion rajat hämärtyvät. Undertaking-teoksessa Geir pyrkii luomaan kuvia, jotka herättävät katsojassa tietyn reaktion – muiston joko oikeasta elämästä tai fiktiivisestä historiasta. Hänen kuvissaan elokuvalliset elementit yhdistyvät arjen aiheisiin, ja ne sijaitsevat faktan ja fiktion, nähdyn ja koetun välissä, jossa logiikka on olemassa samaan aikaan irrationaalisten ajatusten kanssa. Gloria Oyarzabal, Espanja WOMAN GO NO’GREE Imperiumit edustavat ja institutionaalistavat luonnostaan erilaisuutta sekä keskuksen ja siirtomaiden välillä että siirtomaiden asukkaiden välillä. Populaarikulttuuri on täynnä imperialistista kuvastoa. Sukupuolten luokittelu oli eräänlainen biologinen ”uusi perinne”, jonka kolonialismi vakiinnutti yoruba- ja igbo-kulttuureihin sekä moniin muihin afrikkalaisiin kulttuureihin. Osana mielen kolonisaatiota näihin kulttuureihin tuotiin myös länsimaiseen patriarkaaliseen järjestelmään kuuluva naisten infantilisointi. Se määritti haavoittuvan tilan, joka edesauttaa riippuvaisuutta. Vuonna 1987, yli kymmenen vuotta ennen queer-teorian syntyä, nigerialainen kirjailija Ifi

Amadiume kirjoitti kirjan Male Daughters, Female Husbands. Hän irrotti ”aviomiehen” subjektiposition miehisestä yhteydestä ja purki biologisen sukupuolen, sosiaalisen sukupuolen ja seksuaalisen suuntautumisen käsitteitä. Voiko tytärtä pitää poikana? Voiko nainen ottaa toisen naisen vaimokseen ja noudattaa avoimesti avioliittoperinteessä sulhaselle asetettuja vaatimuksia? Aikana, jolloin gender- ja queer-teoria ovat osittain juuttuneet identiteettipolitiikan uomiin, nämä teoriat varoittavat tarkkojen länsimaisten eroavaisuuskäsitysten heijastamisesta muihin kulttuureihin ja kyseenalaistavat koko sosiaalisen sukupuolen (gender) käsitteen. Oyèrónkẹ Oyěwùmí, toinen nigerialainen feministikirjailija (The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses) yhdistää erojen biologisoinnin valtaasemassa olevaan eurooppalaiseen intellektualismiin, joka perustaa hierarkiansa binäärisiin erotteluihin: mies/nainen, valkoinen/musta, homoseksuaalinen/heteroseksuaalinen. Stereotyypit ovat totuuden vastakohta. Kauneusnormeja mitataan usein eurosentristen arvojen, valkoisen kauneuden narratiivien ja vahvasti rodullistettujen kauneusihanteiden (laihuus, nuoruus) kautta. Valkoisuutta korostetaan normina ja ”toiseudesta” tulee fetissi ja ”eksotiikkaa”. Erotiikka, sisaruus, äitiys, avioliitto, perinne, domestikaatio... Kaikkien näiden puolten, kuhunkin yhteiskuntaan liittyvine valoineen ja varjoineen, tulisi olla samalla tasolla, jotta niitä voidaan verrata. Voimmeko olettaa, että kaikkien yhteiskuntien sosiaaliset suhteet ovat järjestäytyneet biologisten sukupuolierojen ympärille? Kauneuden kaanon, modernius, stereotyypit… Ja voimmeko dekolonisoida feminismin kyseenalaistamalla eurosentriset sukupuolikategoriat universaalisti ja luotettavasti? Gordon Spooner, Ranska LETGO ”Muutos ei aiheuta meille kärsimystä, vaan sitä aiheuttaa halu säilyttää asiat ennallaan.” Thich Nhat Hanh Miksi meille uskotellaan, että vakautta kannattaa tavoitella? Historia on todistanut, että kaikki on väliaikaista. Ainoa todistettavasti pysyvä asia on itse asiassa epävakaus. Miksemme hyväksyisi epävakautta? LetGo-sarja on oodi epävakaudelle ja sille hetkelle, kun poistumme mukavuusalueeltamme. Hetkelle, jolloin ainoa mahdollinen suunta on eteenpäin. Hetkelle, jolloin päätämme luottaa tulevaisuuteen. Hans Jørgen Ro, Norja SATURN RETURN Saturnus kiertää Auringon 29,5 vuoden välein. Nykyaikaisessa länsimaisessa astrologiassa Saturnusta kutsutaan piiskuriksi. Jotkut uskovat, että kun planeetta palaa samaan tähtikuvioon kuin henkilön syntymähetkellä, se tuo mukanaan synkät ajat. Hans muistaa näistä synkistä ajoista sen, ettei pystynyt muodostamaan yhteyttä ulkomaailmaan. Hän ei pystynyt näkemään maailmaa samalla tavalla kuin ennen. Kaikki hänen aistinsa herkistyivät jopa siinä määrin, että kevyt kasvojen koskettaminen tuntui epämukavalta ja voimakkaalta. Muina aikoina taitelija tunsi pelkkää tyhjyyttä. Hän tarkkaili välinpitämättömänä tilanteita, joissa hän olisi normaalisti ollut elementissään. Taiteilijan ainoa tavoite oli saada vointinsa paremmaksi, mutta tuolloin hänellä ei ollut aavistustakaan, mitä oli tapahtumassa. Ollessaan 28-vuotias Hans paloi loppuun ja koki ensimmäistä kertaa elämässään masennuksen ja ahdistuksen. Tarinat ovat ihmisille tärkeitä. Todellisuutemme muodostuu lähes yksinomaan tarinoista. Tarinat auttavat ihmisiä selviämään monimutkaisista ongelmista yksinkertaistamalla ne siisteiksi kertomuksiksi. “Frozen Man”, jäätyneen miehen hahmo, perustuu hypotermiaan kuolleeseen tuntemattomaan mieheen, jonka Hans päätti valokuvata Oslon keskusrautatieasemalla. Taiteilija ikuisti miehen siistin kampauksen ja moitteettoman puvun tämän tuijottaessa tyhjyyteen koruttoman betonin ympäröimänä. Hän näytti pieneltä, mutta Hans näki hänen katseessaan oman henkilökohtaisen kriisinsä purkautumisen. Masennuksen ja ahdistuksen aikana valokuvaamisesta tuli Hansille muutakin kuin

harrastus. Frozen Man -valokuva inspiroi taiteilijan viimeisintä projektia, Saturn Return, jossa hän käy läpi loppuunpalamistaan ja tutkii omia ongelmiaan ahdistuksen ja masennuksen kanssa. Saturn Return on tarina siitä, mitä valokuvaaja löysi. Hän luotti aina siihen, että asiat selviävät. Luottamus maailmaan ja omaan itseen hävisi loppuunpalamisen läpitunkeviin aaltoihin. Heikki Humberg, Suomi ROOMS OF TRUTH Rooms of Truth valokuvasarja tarkastelee lähemmin, mitä on eurooppalaisten poliisien kuulusteluhuoneiden suljettujen ovien takana. Oikeuden ja totuuden tavoittelu tiivistyy näihin tiloihin, joissa ihmiset pakotetaan vuorovaikutukseen. Useat kamerat tallentavat huoneiden tapahtumia valokuvaajan kameran lisäksi. Jokainen ele tulkitaan siltä varalta, että se paljastaa totuuden. John Steinbeck kirjoitti: “Totuudessa on enemmän kauneutta, vaikka se olisikin hirvittävää kauneutta.” Huoneen astuttaessa vierasta tervehtii yksinäinen tuoli nurkassa. Ovi sulkeutuu. Aistit terävöityvät havainnoidessa tätä tilaa, joka on tyhjä ihmisistä. Vieno tuulenhenkäys avoimesta ikkunasta rapisuttaa sälekaihtimia metallikaltereita vasten. Niiden välistä näkyy häivähdys valoa. Tätä tilaa voisi kutsua lähes kotoisaksi, mutta hetken keskeyttää vierasta kieltä puhuva poliisi käytävällä. Kalusteiden sijoittelu heijastaa hienoista eroa valtasuhteissa. Satoja ihmiskohtaloita on kulkenut näiden huoneiden läpi. Poikaystävät, naapurit, äidit, rakastajat, pomot, poliisit, lapset, ulkomaalaiset... Huone on heidän tarinansa maalauskangas, ja pinnoilla näkyy pieniä merkkejä heistä. Huang Qingjun, Kiina FAMILY STUFF Huang Qingjun uskoo kaikilla olevan kiehtova tarina kerrottavanaan, minkä vuoksi hän päätti valokuvata joukon kiinnostavan oloisia ihmisiä vuonna 2019. Kyseinen projekti oli osa Huang Qingjunin Family Stuff pääprojektia, jota varten taiteilija kuvasi yhteensä 102 perhettä 16 vuoden aikana. Family Stuff -projektissa Huang Qingjun pyysi perheitä keräämään näiden kaikki maallinen omaisuus yhteen ja asettamaan esineet kotiensa etupihoille. Kun kaikki tavarat oli aseteltu siististi nurmelle, taiteilija valokuvasi perheenjäsenet tavaroiden keskellä. Nämä ihmiset osoittavat suurta luottamusta Huangiin näyttäessään omaisuutensa hänen kameransa edessä. Huangin lähestymistapana oli ikuistaa ihmisten luonnolliset hymyt ja ilmeet. Lopputuloksena on muotokuvasarja, jossa valokuvaajaa isännöineet perheet ovat tavaroidensa ympäröiminä. Taiteilijan ajatuksena oli esittää samaan aikaan sekä ihmisten tunteet että heidän statuksensa. “Uskon, että jokaisella henkilökohtaisella esineellä on erityinen yhteys omistajaansa”, Huang kertoo. Taiteilijan mukaan kuvissa tarkasti dokumentoidut tavarat vangitsevat yleisön katseen. Hän uskoo, että ilman tätä yleisö olisi jättänyt osan kuvien oleellisesta sisällöstä huomiotta tai ajatellut sitä vain vähän. Hänen tavoitteenaan oli käyttää valokuvia häiritsemään tietoisuuttamme. Projektin jokainen osa on osoitus uskosta ja elämän edellytyksistä, todiste heistä, jotka ovat joko sopeutuneet tai pysyneet muuttumattomina modernisoitumisen aikana. Family Stuff löytää olemassaolomme logiikan visuaalisen valaistumisen kautta ja ilmentää Kiinan erityistä roolia suuressa globaalissa muutoksessa. Kamil Matziol, Puola HIDDEN SUBJECT Hidden Subject projekti on Kamilin omakuvien sarja. Jokaisessa valokuvassa ainoa todiste taiteilijan läsnäolosta on punainen, paineilmalla toimiva kaukolaukaisin, jonka Kamil on kytkenyt kameran sulkimeen. Se on katsojalle myös vihje, mistä valokuvan/omakuvan kohteen voi löytää. Näin taiteilija pyrkii houkuttelemaan katsojan mukaan peliinsä, jossa on yksi sääntö. Katsojan on uskottava, että taiteilija todella on kuvassa. Niin kauan kuin ihmiset uskovat hänen olevan kuvan tekijä, Kamilin tavoite täyttyy.

“Luottamus on käytännössä tietämystä ja uskoa. Se on kohteeseen suuntautuvien odotustemme täyttymistä. Valokuvalla on erityinen kyky vääristää totuutta. Valokuvalla on voima visuaalisesti väärentää ja muuttaa kohteensa näennäisen todeksi tarinaksi, vaikka todellisuus on usein ristiriidassa. Ihmiset pyrkivät luottamukseen, he tarvitsevat toivoa. Samalla heitä huijataan jatkuvasti.” Matziol Laura Bisgaard Krogh & Andreas Haubjerg, Tanska A QUESTION OF HONOUR Aution tien varrella Tanskan Jyllannissa on talo, jonka osoite on tuntematon. Viranomaiset kutsuvat taloa ”Turvataloksi”, vaikka se näyttää aivan tavalliselta kodilta. Kyseessä on turvattu rakennus, jossa on valvontakamerat ja tummennetut ikkunat keittiössä pihan puolella. Kaikki tämä liittyy teinityttöjen suojeluun. Joukko tyttöjä on joutunut elämään perheidensä varjossa; perheet ovat kohdistaneet heihin uhkauksia, väkivaltaa ja torjuntaa. Tytöt asuvat täällä kunniaan liittyvien konfliktien vuoksi. He eivät tunteneet tätä käsitettä ennen perheiltään pakenemista ja Jyllannin turvataloon muuttamista. Mutta he tietävät, miltä se tuntuu. Viranomaiset määrittelevät kunniakonfliktit ilmiöiksi, jotka tapahtuvat läheisissä perhesuhteissa ja joiden syynä on käsitys siitä, että perheen kunniaa on loukattu. Näiden perheiden tytöt ovat vaarassa joutua pakotettuun avioliittoon, tai he saattavat kohdata väkivaltaisia rangaistuksia kotiin vangitsemisen tai fyysisen väkivallan muodossa. Äärimmäisimmissä tapauksissa he voivat olla vaarassa joutua kunniamurhatuksi. Kunniakonfliktin vuoksi paenneita tyttöjä repii kahtaalle kodin negatiivisen sosiaalisen kontrollin pelko ja toisaalta rakkaus perhettä kohtaan. Jyllannin turvatalossa he pyrkivät rakentamaan omaa identiteettiään ja elämään melko normaalia teinielämää. Kaikki sarjan tytöt ovat anonyymeja turvallisuussyistä. Miten tämä tarina liittyy luottamukseen: Perheenjäsenet ovat usein ne ihmiset, joihin luotamme eniten. Tarinan tyttöjen tapauksessa tuo luottamus on rikottu ja viety heiltä. Tämä tarina kertoo luottamuksen palauttamisesta omaan itseen. Kunniakonfliktin keskellä perustavanlaatuinen luottamus perheeseen, itseen ja ympäröivään maailman rikkoutuu. “Turvataloissa olemme saaneet todistaa eturivissä, että nämä tytöt pystyvät saamaan itseluottamuksensa takaisin ja ottamaan kohtalonsa omiin käsiinsä. Olemme otettuja ja ylpeitä, että tytöt ovat jakaneet tarinansa kanssamme. Tämä on suurin luottamuksen osoitus, jonka valokuvaaja voi saada.” Laura Bisgaard Krogh & Andreas Haubjerg

Laura Liverani, Italia

FUKUSHIMA SURFERS Fukushima Surfers sarja keskittyy Japanin Fukushiman surffausyhteisöön. Sarja koostuu paikan päällä kuvatuista muotokuvista, havainnoivista kuvista ja maisemakuvista. Valokuvaaja Liverania kiinnostaa, miten surffausyhteisö muovaa Fukushiman rantoja katastrofin jälkeen ja valtaa ne takaisin. Ennen vuoden 2011 tsunamia ja kolminkertaista ydinvoimalaonnettomuutta, joiden jälkeen alueesta tuli säteilyn ja katastrofin synonyymi, Fukushiman, ”Hyvän onnen laakson”, rannikko tunnettiin kauniista rannoistaan ja korkeista aalloistaan. Se oli surffaajien paratiisi ja yksi Japanin parhaista surffauskohteista. Tsunamin ja ydinonnettomuuden trauman jälkeen surffaajien oli saatava takaisin luottamuksensa mereen, joka tappoi heidän läheisiään ja tuhosi heidän kotejaan. Sanotaan, että surffaajat palasivat ensimmäisinä Fukushiman rannoille. Osa palasi kielletyille alueille vain viikkoja Fukushima Daiichin ydinreaktorin sulamisen jälkeen, mahdollisesti vaarallisista säteilytasoista huolimatta. Hallinnon tutkimusten ja joidenkin paikallisten ryhmien mukaan Fukushima Daiichia ympäröivissä vesissä on nyt virallisesti turvallista sukeltaa. Edellä mainittuihin ryhmiin kuuluu myös surffaajaryhmiä, jotka valvovat rantojen säteilytasoja itsenäisesti. Paikallinen surffausyhteisö on erittäin aktiivinen pyrkimyksissään palauttaa suuren yleisön luottamus rantoihin. Surffaus on palaamassa Fukushimaan.

Lauren Forster, Iso-Britannia GOD HAS NO FAVOURITES God Has No Favourites on intiimi valokuvadokumentti, joka tutkii Laurenin perheen reaktioita hänen äitinsä sekundäärisen aivosyövän diagnoosista äidin kuolemaan saakka 17.8.2018. Taiteilijan vanhemmat työskentelivät Pelastusarmeijassa 45 vuoden ajan. Suurimman osan tuosta ajasta he viettivät lähetyssaarnaajina Afrikassa. He muuttivat takaisin Isoon-Britanniaan 2016, kun äidin syöpä levisi aivoihin ja isä ryhtyi tämän omaishoitajaksi. Projekti oli luonteeltaan terapeuttista yhteistyötä perheelle. Siinä näkyvät heidän jakamansa intiimit hetket tuona aikana. ”Toivon, että kuvat näyttävät perheemme keskinäisen rakkauden ja luottamuksen, mutta samalla myös tällaisen kokemuksen vaikeuden ja tuskan”, Lauren kertoo. Vaikka aihe on äärimmäisen henkilökohtainen, kuvat pyrkivät ylittämään tämän henkilökohtaisen tason ja kertomaan yleismaailmallisesti rakkaudesta, perheestä, menetyksestä, voimasta ja hauraudesta tavalla, jonka kuka tahansa katsoja ymmärtää. Taiteilijan perhe on mikrokosmos, joka ilmentää tätä saman kokeneissa perheissä toistuvaa dynamiikkaa. Teos on myös kaunistelematon: se näyttää tietynlaisen heikkouden ilman pyrkimystä tunteellisuuteen. Jokainen kokee kuoleman yksin. Kuolema erottaa meidät kaikista ympäriltämme, ja se on kokemus, jota ei voi jakaa kenenkään toisen kanssa. Ihmisten on ollut pakko kohdata kuolema ja kuolevaisuus aikojen alusta, mutta kokemuksemme kuoleman vaiheista on muuttunut dramaattisesti lähimenneisyydessä. Ennen kuolema oli äkillinen, odottamaton ja melko nopea tapahtuma, eivätkä ihmiset pelänneet sitä yhtä paljon kuin nyt. Keskusteluja kuolemasta käydään liian harvoin. Laurenin äiti uskoi kuolinpäiväänsä saakka, että Jumala parantaisi hänet. Kun taiteilija kysyi isältään, miksi Jumala antoi äidin kärsiä ja kuolla, isä vastasi: ”koska Jumalalla ei ole suosikkeja.” Magnus Cederlund, Ruotsi INTIME Cafe Intime on Kööpenhaminan keskustan vanhin homobaari. Intime muistuttaa olohuonetta: se on täynnä vanhoja maalauksia, huonekaluja ja aitoja kukkia. Baarin sisustukseen on saatu inspiraatiota 1920-luvun elämästä Montmartrella ja Unter den Lindenillä. Sinne mennään ensitreffeille nauttimaan drinkeistä ja jazzista. Taiteilija Magnus Cederlund on käynyt siellä viimeisten seitsemän vuoden ajan ja valokuvannut satunnaisia kävijöitä tulevaa valokuvakirjaansa varten. Intime-sarja sisältää kuitenkin vain erityisesti valittuja kuvia, jotka esittävät transyhteisöä. Maria Lax, Suomi SOME KIND OF HEAVENLY FIRE Maria Lax on kotoisin pieneltä pohjoissuomalaiselta paikkakunnalta, jota ympäröi laaja ja harvaan asuttu erämaa. Useimmat kulkevat paikkakunnan läpi matkalla jonnekin muualle tietämättä, että paikka oli merkittävä UFO-havaintojen keskus 1960-luvulla. Lax ei itsekään tiennyt tästä historiasta ennen kuin luki isoisänsä kirjoittaman kirjan, joka sisälsi uskomattomia tarinoita yliluonnollisista tapahtumista, rohkeudesta ja karun maaperän aiheuttamista vaikeuksista. Muistisairaana Laxin isoisä ei pystynyt vastaamaan hänen kysymyksiinsä, joten hän etsi vastauksia muualta. Lax kääntyi salaperäiset valot nähneiden ihmisten puoleen ja kävi läpi sanomalehtiarkistoja sekä perheensä valokuva-albumeja tuolta ajalta. UFO-havainnot tapahtuivat Pohjois-Suomen vaikeina aikoina. Töitä etsiessään ihmiset ryntäsivät maalta kaupunkeihin ja jättivät jälkeensä autiotaloja näihin karuihin mutta kauniisiin maisemiin. Ei ole ihme, että UFO-havainnot ilmensivät tulevaisuudenpelkoa, kun elämäntavat ja elinkeinot olivat keskellä tuntematonta ja vääjäämätöntä muutosta. Osa pelästyi salaperäisiä valoja, osa piti niitä merkkinä siitä, etteivät he olleet yksin.

Margeaux Walter, Yhdysvallat

BELIEVE ME Believe Me -sarjan valokuvat muistuttavat valvontakuvia tai Google Earthissa näkyviä kuvia. Walter matkii lisätyn todellisuuden ratkaisuja ja asettaa esille paikallisia väliaikaisia installaatioita, jotka haastavat nykyisen faktojenjälkeisen maailman, vaikutteinaan käsikirjoitettu ja liioitteleva tosi-tv, valeuutiset, sensaatiojournalismi ja virtuaaliset kokemukset. Koska Walter itse esittää hahmoja kaikissa kohtauksissa ja ikuistaa kuvat dronen avulla, hänestä itsestään tulee prosessissa kuin sätkynukke, ja kuvaajan ja kohteen suhde kääntyy päälaelleen. Hän viittaa töillään myös nykyisiin valvontamenetelmiin. Vaikka Walterin kuvat näyttävät digitaalisesti tekaistuilta, ne on luotu kameralla, ja Photoshopia on käytetty vain lisäämään taitelijan esittämät hahmot kuviin. Marlena Waldthausen, Saksa NOIVA DO CORDEIRO (ALL WE NEED) Brasiliassa sijaitseva 300 asukkaan yhteisö Noiva do Cordeiro on yksi kauneimmista esimerkeistä siitä, mihin naiset ja miehet kykenevät. Ehkä vielä tärkeämpää on, että paikkaa hallitsevat naiset. Siellä ei ole väkivaltaa, ei kirkkoa, ei hierarkioita, ei etuoikeuksia. Kylän keskeinen hahmo on vaatimaton vanha nainen: matriarkka Delina. Hänen kylässään riitoja ei viedä tuomioistuimeen, vaan ne selvitetään pitkissä keskusteluissa. Kaikki ansaitsevat saman verran. Kukin panostaa pieniin ja suuriin hankkeisiin sen verran kuin pystyy. Homoseksuaalinen rakkaus on yhtä hyväksyttyä kuin heteroseksuaalinenkin rakkaus. Lapsia hoidetaan vuorotellen, ja vanhuksista ja sairaista huolehditaan. Suuressa yhteisörakennuksessa kylän keskellä valmistetaan ruokaa kaikille useita kertoja päivässä. Asukkaat polttavat, tanssivat ja juhlivat. Ja – toisin kuin muualla maassa – valta on naisilla. Naisvalta on peräisin kylän historiasta. Tiukka evankelinen pappi meni naimisiin tuolloin 16-vuotiaan Delinan kanssa 1950-luvun lopulla ja perusti ankaran järjestelmän: ei musiikkia, ei ehkäisyä; vain pitkiä hiuksia ja vaatteita sekä useiden tuntien jokapäiväistä rukoilua, ja naisen sana painaa aina vähemmän kuin miehen. Naiset nousivat kapinaan ja irtautuivat kylän itsevaltiaasta 1990-luvun alussa. He hylkäsivät miesten hallinnon ja kielsivät uskonnon. He halusivat elää myötätuntoista elämää ilman pappeja – yhteisössä, jossa ei ole rajoitteita. Jos Noiva do Cordeiron yhteisön rakennetta yritettäisiin luokitella, heitä varmaankin kutsuttaisiin matriarkaalisiksi, sosialisteiksi ja ruohonjuuritason demokraateiksi. Noivan asukkaat eivät kuitenkaan tarvitse termejä tai teorioita. Heidän periaatteensa on – niin utopistiselta ja kauniilta kuin se kuulostaakin – rakkaus. Kaikki muu tulee sen jälkeen. Mary Gelman, Venäjä SVETLANA Venäjällä on runsaasti ennakkoluuloja mielenterveysongelmista kärsiviä kohtaan. Heitä ei pidetä täysivaltaisina, oppimiseen ja kanssakäymiseen kykenevinä ihmisinä, ja he pysyvät työttöminä. Mutta eräässä paikassa kaikki on toisin. Siellä luottamus ja kunnioitus toisia kohtaan on yhteisön ydinarvo. Svetlana on ainutlaatuinen sosiaalinen kylä Leningradin alueella Venäjällä. Kylässä mielenterveyshäiriöistä kärsivillä on mahdollisuus elää vapaasti ja saada tukea ohjaajilta ja vapaaehtoisilta. Paikka ei ole sisäoppilaitos tai klinikka. Ketään ei valvota, ja ovet ovat aina auki. Diagnooseista ei puhuta: asukkaita ei luokitella terveiksi tai sairaiksi, normaaleiksi tai epänormaaleiksi. He ovat kaikki yksilöitä, jotka työskentelevät omien kykyjensä mukaan. Asukkaat uskovat siihen, mitä ihmisestä voi tulla tämän menneisyydestä riippumatta. Svetlanan yhteisössä on lähes 35 asukasta. He asuvat neljässä suuressa talossa, ja heillä on muun muassa puutarha, maatila, leipomo ja puuverstas. Kyläläisille tarjotaan viisi ateriaa päivässä. He saunovat viikonloppuisin ja valmistelevat näytelmiä juhlapyhiksi. Erityistä tukea tarvitsevat ihmiset ovat vapaita menemään ulos, työskentelemään,

ystävystymään ja rakastumaan. He voivat toteuttaa itseään missä tahansa työssä tai luovassa toiminnassa. Osa asukkaista ei pystynyt aluksi edes pitelemään lusikkaa käsissään, mutta nyt he leipovat leipää kaikille asukkaille tai osallistuvat esityksiin. Melissa Ianniello, Italia WISH IT WAS A COMING OUT Wish it Was a Coming Out on jatkuva pitkäaikainen projekti, jossa Ianniello haluaa tutkia homoseksuaalisuuden ja vanhuuden kaksoistabua Italiassa. Teos sai alkunsa hänen henkilökohtaisesta kokemuksestaan: Ianniello ei kertonut lesboudestaan isovanhemmilleen ja menetti mahdollisuuden muodostaa yhteisymmärrys heidän kanssaan. Tämän tunnustuksen puuttuminen herätti halun vapautua ja tarpeen katharsikselle, josta hyötyisivät niin hän itse kuin muutkin. Niinpä, ikään kuin epäsuorana kunnianosoituksena isovanhemmilleen, hän alkoi tutkia, millaisia kokemuksia on ihmisillä, jotka ovat iältään lähempänä hänen isovanhempiaan mutta seksuaalisen suuntautumisensa osalta muistuttavat häntä itseään. Tämän teoksen päähenkilöt ovat 60–90-vuotiaita homoja ja lesboja. Ianniello alkoi etsiä heitä ensimmäisen kerran vuonna 2018 ja sai heidän yhteystietonsa puskaradion sekä joidenkin netin deittisovellusten kautta. Seuraavaksi hän lähti matkustamaan ympäri Italiaa tavatakseen ihmisiä, jotka halusivat jakaa henkilökohtaisen tarinansa. Ianniello päätti valokuvata nämä henkilöt joko pareina tai yksin, omissa kodeissaan, todellisissa intiimeissä hetkissä. Kuviin ikuistui hymyjä, huolia, ajatuksia, rakkautta ja haluja, jotka harvoin saavat äänen. Hän aloitti yhteisillä kokemuksilla, sekä omillaan että kohteidensa, tavoitteenaan kuvata homojen ja lesbojen elämää nyky-Italiassa, siinä ristiriitaisessa ja kiehtovassa elämänvaiheessa, jota ikääntymiseksi kutsutaan. Tätä tavoitetta varten Ianniello päätti etsiä näitä henkilöitä mahdollisimman monilta alueilta, minkä vuoksi hän matkusti ja matkustaa edelleen läpi koko Italian. Tämä teos ja sen tarjoama mahdollisuus korjata mukana kannetut hiljaisuudet kertoo ihmisten halusta näyttää itsensä kokonaan, kieltämättä mitään osaa identiteetistään: teoksen nimen sanat ”coming out” eivät viittaa vain kaapista ulos tulemiseen seksuaalisuuden osalta, vaan ennen kaikkea omien kokemusten, elämän ja itsen jakamiseen yli sukupolvien. M'hammed Kilito, Marokko AMONG YOU Among You kuvaa marokkolaisten nuorten henkilökohtaiseen identiteettiin liittyviä valintoja muotokuvilla, joissa esiintyvät nuoret ottavat kohtalonsa omiin käsiinsä. Näillä yksilöillä on rohkeutta valita omat realiteettinsa. Usein he myös venyttävät yhteiskunnan rajoja. Oli se sitten luovan toiminnan, ulkonäön tai seksuaalisuuden kautta, he ilmentävät nuorta Marokkoa – valpasta ja muuttuvaa, jossa on oikeus olla erilainen ja juhlia moninaisuutta. Näiden nuorten mielet ovat lujia ja kestäviä kuin palmupuu – Marokon ankarimpiin ilmastooloihin sopeutunut puu. He haastavat marokkolaisen yhteiskunnan konservatiivisia ja perinteisiä normeja päivittäin. He kasvattavat omaa yksityistä keidastaan esteistä huolimatta maassa, joka ei heidän mielestään kehity yhtä nopeasti kuin he itse. Samalla he innoittavat muita. Mogens Kjoeller, Tanska FRAGMENTS Luottamus on tärkeä osa elämäämme, varsinkin jos pystymme keskittymään muihin peruselementteihin kuin pelkkään selviytymiseen. Jos elämässä on liikaa epävarmuuksia, koemme stressiä. Jos liian montaa elementtiä kyseenalaistetaan, me lamaannumme. Pyrkiessämme kokoamaan palapeliä uudelleen saatamme turvautua perusteettomiin uskomuksiin. Elämme aikana, jolloin tietoa on saatavilla enemmän kuin koskaan. Käsitelläksemme ylitsevuotavaa tietomäärää olemme joutuneet ottamaan sanastoomme uusia termejä, kuten ”vaihtoehtoinen fakta”

ja ”valeuutinen”. Suuren tietomäärän lisäksi koemme uudenlaista epävarmuutta viruksen vuoksi: se on fyysisesti olemassa ja siirtyy ihmisestä toiseen. Toiset vähättelevät tätä ”uutta normaalia”, toiset taas dramatisoivat sitä. Tämä on johtanut salaliittoteorioihin ja luottamuksen rikkoutumiseen laajemmin kuin vain henkilökohtaisella tasolla, sillä olemme menettäneet luottamuksemme yhteiskuntaan. Palaammeko koskaan normaaliin, vai onko tämä uusi normaali? Kuvan luonteeseen kuuluu kaunistaminen, yksinkertaistaminen ja valinta. Tämä projekti käyttää valokuvaa alkuperäisessä analogisessa muodossa ja tutkii kuvan hyväksyntää näyttäen ilmiselviä, leikkaamalla tehtyjä muutoksia. Kuva koostuu aina sirpaleista, manipuloinnista ja esitetyn asian rajaamisesta. Tässä projektissa kuvan ja luottamuksen yhtäläisyyksien tutkiminen on osa tavoitetta. Nadja Hallström, Suomi THE LAST WILD HORSES Hevonen on yleismaailmallinen vapauden symboli. Vaikka suurin osa amerikkalaisista arvostaa villihevosia ja haluaa suojella niitä, Yhdysvaltojen julkisista maa-alueista vastaava virasto suunnittelee villihevosten hävittämistä ja sallii laaja-alaisen kaupallisen karjan laiduntamisen valtion mailla. Näin merkittävän vapauden symbolin jahtaaminen taloudellisten intressien vuoksi muistuttaa, kuinka kaukana unelma vapaudesta (miltä se joskus näytti) on ihmisten luontosuhdetta nykyisin leimaavasta kyynisyydestä. Mitä tapahtuu, kun emme pysty suojelemaan villieläimiä ja kesytämme luonnon tottelevaiseksi työvälineeksi? Viimeisten villihevosten metsästäminen on uhanalaiseen lajiin kohdistuvaa riistoa, jollaista on harjoitettu monien muidenkin lajien kohdalla. Samalla saalistetaan myös ihmisten unelmaa yhteiselosta villin luonnon kanssa, harmoniasta ylivoiman sijaan. The Last Wild Horses sarjan kuvat on otettu villihevosten suojelukeskuksessa Yhdysvalloissa. Keskuksen työntekijät kuntouttavat villihevosia ja opettavat niitä luottamaan ihmisiin. Hallströmin kuvissa esiintyvät ihmiset, jotka hoitavat villihevosia ja taistelevat niiden selviytymisen puolesta. Valokuvaajan ystävä Diane Delano perusti Wild Horse Rescue Center keskuksen Floridassa noin 20 vuotta sitten. Siitä lähtien Diane ja keskuksen vapaaehtoiset ovat pelastaneet satoja hevosia ja myös muita eläimiä. Kun maanhallintavirasto on saanut villihevosen kiinni, sen vapauttaminen luontoon on laitonta. Dianen tavoitteena on kouluttaa ja kesyttää hevosia, jotta ne voivat luottaa ihmisiin ja saada uudet rakastavat kodit. Diane hoitaa tällä hetkellä 47 hevosta. Hänen kotinsa on upea paikka, jossa eläimet voivat kukoistaa. Valokuvaaja vieraili myös Etelä-Dakotassa, Utahissa ja Coloradossa tavatakseen muita eläinten parissa työskenteleviä ihmisiä. Suurin osa The Last Wild Horses sarjan valokuvista on kuvattu 2019. Noel Bowler, Irlanti ABOVE THE FOLD Above the Fold -sarjan valokuvat on otettu maailman kunnioitetuimpien ja tunnetuimpien sanomalehtien uutishuoneissa. Valokuvat on toteutettu kuuden vuoden aikana yhteistyössä maailman (maksetun levikin perusteella) suurimpien sanomalehtien kanssa. Kuvat vievät katsojan matkalle inhimillisen vuorovaikutuksen vuosikymmeniin, joiden aikana nykyisenmuotoinen media on muotoutunut. Nykyään sanomalehti- ja journalismiliike on monissa maissa ajankohtaisempi kuin koskaan. Tämä ajan hermolla oleva teos jatkaa Noel Bowlerin syventymistä elämäämme muokkaaviin poliittisiin voimiin sekä vapaan ja luotettavan median tärkeyteen. Siitä lähtien, kun lukutaito alkoi lisääntyä nopeasti 1800-luvulla, sanomalehdet ovat olleet tiiviisti mukana modernin yhteiskunnan kehityksessä poliittisen metakertomusten, tiedonvälityksen ja väittelyiden kehystyksen kautta. Nyt kun lukijamäärät ja mainostajat vähenevät ja ”totuudesta” ja relevanssista esitetään jatkuvasti kysymyksiä, painetun median rakenteet ovat keskellä muutosta. Toisin kuin monimuotoinen ja

hajaantunut verkkouutisointi, sanomalehden toimituksen fyysinen tila on muotoutunut vuosien kehityksen, sopeutumisen sekä yleisen edun ja kaupallisten tavoitteiden välillä tasapainottelun kautta. Above the Fold korostaa ihmisten roolia painetussa uutismediassa ja muistuttaa toimittajien tärkeydestä ja olennaisuudesta. Nämä valokuvat tarjoavat meille katsauksen paikkoihin, joissa niin moniin vaikuttavat päätökset ja linjaukset luodaan. Vaikka nämä paikat eroavat maantieteelliseltä sijainniltaan, kulttuuriltaan ja politiikaltaan, niillä on yksi olennainen yhtäläisyys: omistautuminen tiedottamiselle, sivistämiselle sekä vapaan ja rehellisen median aseman vahvistamiselle. Nuno Serrão, Portugali IN BETWEEN Nunon tyhjä taulu alkaa tunteen, logiikan, minimalismin ja uteliaisuuden toiminnalliselta tasolta. Taiteilija pitää näitä mittajärjestelmänään. Uteliaisuus vie Nunon usein dokumentoimaan kehystettäviä mikrokertomuksia, jotka lopulta herättävät täysin uusia kysymyksiä. Hän uskoo saavansa vastauksen kaikkien yhteen liittyvien kysymysten summasta. “Tasapaino on tila, jossa kaikki kilpailevat voimat ovat yhtä suuria. En usko, että tällainen tila voi jatkua ikuisesti, eikä tämä päde myöskään universumiin, sillä muuten sellaista ei olisi. Minua kiinnostaa, mitä tapahtuu vastakkaisten puolten välissä: pimeys vastaan valo, hyvä vastaan paha, mennyt vastaan tuleva, ilo vastaan suru. Tässä tilassa saan suurimman inspiraationi.” Serrão Oskar Alvarado, Espanja WHERE FIREFLIES UNFOLD “Suurimmalla osalla heistä, jotka ovat syntyneet kaupungissa 60- ja 70-lukujen maaltamuuton seurauksena, on yhteinen ja yhdistävä paikka: vanhempiemme kylä. Deleitosa on minun kyläni. Se sijaitsee Cáceresin maakunnassa Espanjan Extremaduran itsehallintoalueella. Siellä vanhempani, isovanhempani ja isoisovanhempani sekä muut esivanhempani ovat asuneet satojen vuosien ajan.” Alvarado Deleitosa on se kylä, jossa Eugene Smith päätti toteuttaa valokuvaesseensä Spanish Village. Essee julkaistiin amerikkalaisessa Life-lehdessä 9.4.1951. Sen sijaan, että esittelisi Deleitosan havainnoitavaa ulkomuotoa tai visuaalisia viittauksia, jotka tekevät kylästä espanjalaisen maaseudun sosiaalisen ja taloudellisen takapajuisuuden valokuvallisen ikonin, taiteilijan katse kohdistuu subjektiivisiin nyansseihin, jotka liittyvät kokemuksiin, paikkoihin ja muistoihin. Muistoihin, jotka ovat säilyneet välähdyksinä mielessä. Kuviin, joissa kollektiivisessa mielikuvituksessa kelluvat hetket yhdistyvät kylän uusiin todellisuuksiin. Kun olemme osa jotakin aluetta, meillä on tunneperäinen tarve luottaa sen kehitykseen. Tutkia identiteettiämme meitä yhä puhuttelevien paikkojen kaikujen tai niissä asuvien ihmisten ja olentojen läsnä-/poissaolon kautta. Mukautua visuaaliseen tulkintaan, joka tuo esiin mysteerin, joka ilmenee arjen rytmeissä ja outouden alla piilevässä runollisessa tilassa. Otto Hainzl, Itävalta EUROPASTRASSE Useimmat meistä ovat kuulleet sellaisista mutta harva tietää tarkalleen mitä Eurooppatiet ovat. Oli tarkka vastaus mikä vaan, läpäisevät ne mannertamme laidasta laitaan. Eurooppatien toteutus vaatii suunnatonta ponnistusta, tahdonvoimaa, budjetointia, suunnittelua ja insinööritaitoa. Vahva päättäväisyys on edellytyksenä teiden olemassaololle. Kuitenkin kenen päättäväisyydestä on kyse? Pohjimmiltaan meidän— eurooppalaisen yhteiskunnan! Mutta ketkä me eurooppalaisena yhteiskuntana olemme? Juuri tätä kysyy yleisöltään itävaltalainen valokuvaaja Otto Hainzl. Seuraten jälkiämme ja kuvaten näennäisen vaatimattomia miljöitä ja jokapäiväistä elämäämme generoi hän Bilderweltin (kuvamaailman) joka heijastaa meitä eurooppalaisia eri kulmista. Lopulta me itse

olemme Hainzlin kohteiden arkkitehtejä. Havaintojensa kohteeksi Hainzl valitsi E75:n. Se halkaisee yhdeksän maata Vardøstä Norjan koillisimmassa päässä Sitiaan kreikkalaisen Kreetan saarella. Pisin osuus on Suomessa. Lähes kolmen kuukauden ajan hän matkasi E75:tä päästä päähän. Matkallaan hän dokumentoi meitä eurooppalaisia ja eurooppalaisuuttamme mm. valokuvina, videoina ja äänenä. Tämä Helsinki Photo Festivalilla nähtävä kiertonäyttely on esillä vain E75:n varrella. Reiko Ishida, Japani/Norja ISOLATION Reiko Ishida tutkii Isolation-sarjassa valokuvauksen keinoin omia ajatuksiaan eristäytymisestä. Ishida pyrkii kuvaamaan sekä tuntemattoman pelkoaan että tulevaisuuden toiveitaan ja haaveitaan. Hän luotti erääseen henkilöön vuosien ajan. Tämä oli virhe, jonka vuoksi hän joutui elämään eristyksissä. Tämä sarja esittää luottamuksen nurjan puolen. Renja Nurmi, Suomi MODERN FAITH “Jos mä en olis 100%:n varma tästä, niin mä en ikinä tekis näin.” Modern Faith on kuvareportaasi modernista kristinuskosta. Renja Nurmi on valokuvasarjassaan dokumentoinut, miten usko, luottamus ja välittäminen näkyvät modernissa kristillisessä kirkossa. Suomen evankelisluterilainen valtakirkko ei juurikaan houkuttele nuoria tai alle 40-vuotiaita, mutta pienet ja uudehkot itsenäiset seurakunnat, jollainen esiintyy myös Renjan kuvissa, houkuttelevat ihmisiä enemmän. Northwind Church seurakunnan sunnuntaisessa kokoontumisessa useimmat osallistujat ovat pari-kolmekymppisiä. He laulavat gospelia, tanssivat ja julistavat uskoaan kädet ylhäällä. Tunnelma on hyvin erilainen kuin perinteisissä suomalaisissa seurakunnissa. Robin Alysha Clemens, Alankomaat YO SOY OTRO TÚ, TÚ ERES OTRO YO Meksiko on maa, joka on hyväksynyt, haastanut ja vastustanut useita perinteitä ja uskontoja koko historiansa ajan: alkaen mayojen ja asteekkien alkuperäisistä rituaaleista, espanjalaisten uudisasukkaiden ajamasta katolilaisuudesta ja Afrikasta, Etelä- ja Pohjois-Amerikasta saapuneista moninaisista kulttuurivaikutteista. Vaikka valtaosa meksikolaisista tunnustautuu katolilaiseksi, kolonisaatiota edeltävät alkuperäiskansojen tavat ja animismin perinteet ovat yhä nykyäänkin läsnä. Meksiko on maa, jossa erilaiset mystiset ja uskonnolliset perinteet sekoittuvat ja muuntuvat monimutkaisen poliittisen ja sosiaalisen historian taustaa vasten. Yo soy otro tú, tú eres otro yo kuvaa meksikolaisia ja heidän uskoaan. Valokuvaaja Robin Alysha Clemens matkusti Meksikoon tavatakseen, haastatellakseen ja kuvatakseen yli 60 uskovaa: henkiparantajia (curanderos), shamaaneita, katolilaisia, buddhalaisia, nunnia, noitia (brujas), Santa Muerten seuraajia, hengellisiä kätilöitä, näkijöitä (videntes), new age spiritualisteja, taiteilijoita ja nahua-, seri- ja yaqui-kansojen edustajia. Projekti keskittyy nykyaikaisen hengellisyyden monimuotoisuuteen Meksikossa, tutkii näkymätöntä ja paljastaa näissä hengellisisissä tavoissa piilevät yhtäläisyydet. Clemens katsoo alttarien, ikonien ja uskonnollisten symbolien ohitse ikuistaakseen ihmiset uskon takana. Sasha Maslov, Ukraina UKRAINIAN RAILROAD LADIES Ukrainian Railroad Ladies on muotokuvasarja naisista, jotka valvovat liikennettä ja turvallisuutta Ukrainan rautateiden tasoristeyksissä. Naiset viettävät valtaosan pitkistä työvuoroistaan pienissä, heille erityisesti rakennetuissa taloissa raiteiden varrella. Sarja tutkii Ukrainan maaseudun ja esikaupunkien maisemia, joissa näiden rautatietalojen julkisivut ovat tärkeässä roolissa. Projekti kuvaa talojen sisätilojen intiimejä yksityiskohtia ja kutsuu katsojan tapaamaan itse rautatienaisia. Ukrainian Railroad Ladies on myös

tutkielma ukrainalaisesta mielenmaisemasta, luottamuksesta ja nykyisen järjestelmän haastamisesta, sekä siitä, miksi tämä kyseinen ammatti on edelleen olemassa 2000-luvulla, kun lähes kaikki Ukrainan ja koko maailman tasoristeykset on automatisoitu. Se tutkii ammatin antropologisia ja sosiaalisia puolia sekä rautatien yleistä merkitystä Ukrainalle. Maa on poliittisen myllerryksen kourissa: itäosissa käydään sotaa ja osa maasta on menetetty aggressiiviselle naapurille, minkä lisäksi korruptio on loppumatonta ja talous on pysyvissä vaikeuksissa. Ukrainassa ihmiset eivät kiinnitä juurikaan huomiota junan ikkunasta näkemiinsä naisiin, jotka useimmiten pitelevät taiteltua keltaista lippua (merkiksi veturinkuljettajalle, että kaikki on kunnossa edessä olevilla raiteilla). Keltainen lippu symboloi turvaa ja luottamusta. Vaikka maata ja maailmaa kohtaavat paljon suuremmat ongelmat, taiteltuja keltaisia lippuja pitelevät ihmiset näyttelevät merkittävää, mutta hiljaista roolia ukrainalaisten arjessa. Myrskyssä on usein vaikea nähdä majakkaa. Ukrainan rautatienaiset ovat majakka. He symboloivat varmuutta ja muuttumattomuutta. He seisovat tukevasti paikoillaan nykyajassa uhmakkaana kunnianosoituksena menneisyydelle. Junat ja aika kiitävät ohi, mutta he ovat täällä jäädäkseen. Shinwook Kim, Etelä-Korea IN SEARCH OF NESSIE Valokuvausteoksen tuottaminen on yksi tarinankerronnan tapa. Mitkä tarinat meitä kiinnostavat? On tarinoita, jotka kummittelevat ihmisten mielissä pitkänkin ajan jälkeen. Jotkin tarinat kulkevat edestakaisin ajassa ja paikassa, mutta pysyvät silti ajankohtaisina. Sukupolvet ja alueet ylittäviä elinvoimaisia tarinoita säilytetään kutsumalla niitä myyteiksi tai taikauskoksi. In Search of Nessie projekti alkoi kysymyksestä, missä ja miten tällaiset tarinat syntyvät ja miten ne saattavat vaikuttaa todelliseen elämään ja kulttuuriin. Loch Ness, suuri jääkautinen järvi Skotlannin ylämailla, on myös myyttinen paikka, joka tunnetaan ympäri maailman dinosaurusmaisen Loch Nessin hirviön, tuttavallisemmin ”Nessien”, mahdollisena asuinpaikkana. Kirurgi Robert Wilsonin pilasta lähtenyt valokuva salaperäisestä olennosta käynnisti vuonna 1934 myyttisen luonnonilmiön muutoksen pitkäaikaiseksi kulutuksen ja jakelun kohteeksi. Guinnessin ennätysten kirjassa mainitaan erään ”Nessien metsästäjän” etsineen Nessietä jo 30 vuotta. Toinen mies, Adrian Shine, on tutkinut Loch Nessiä ja mystistä olentoa yli 45 vuotta. Vuosina 2018–2019 uusiseelantilaiset ja muunmaalaiset geenitutkijat tutkivat Loch Nessin hirviön DNA:ta. Valokuvaaja Shinwook Kim ei yritä tutkia Nessien olemassaoloa, vaan hän haluaa selvittää, miten näkymättömät myytit läpäisevät todellisen paikan, ja luoda myytin kuvittelun tapoja ympäröivän maiseman, hahmojen ja erilaisten arkistojen avulla. Työnsä kautta hän aikoo löytää myytin elementtejä, joita luodaan, levitetään ja ylläpidetään tietyssä paikassa. Shinwook toivoo paljastavansa pirstaloituneita kuvia ja häiritsevänsä myytin toimintaa selvittääkseen, miten ja millaisten prosessien kautta myytti luo merkitystä tietylle paikalle. Mistä tarina (myytti) muodostuu, ja miten sitä ylläpidetään ja käytetään? Shirin Abedi, Iran/Saksa MAY I HAVE THIS DANCE? Mojdeh tanssii punaisessa pitkässä hameessaan ja pieni kruunu päässään punaisten verhojen edessä, kun naisyleisö osoittaa suosiotaan Teheranissa, Iranissa. Mojdej (21 v), Reyhaneh (22 v), Nona (18 v) ja Yasamin (22 v) ovat kaikki saman teheranilaisen balettiryhmän jäseniä. He edustavat sodanjälkeistä iranilaissukupolvea, joka ajaa itsemääräämisoikeutta, vapautta ja tasa-arvoa. Iranin Kansallisbaletti perustettiin vuonna 1958 ja tuotti yli 50 esitystä aina vallankumoukseen saakka. Maan lain mukaan sensuellit tanssit johtavat moraalittomuuteen ja haureuteen, minkä vuoksi vuonna 1979 kaikki tanssifasiliteetit lakkautettiin ja tanssi kiellettiin tavalliselta kansalta. Siitä huolimatta yhä useampi iranilainen tanssii tänä päivänä ja yrittää tienata sillä elantonsa.

Ballerina Pardis muodosti nykytanssija Niman kanssa vuonna 2008 balettiryhmän, joka kymmenen vuotta myöhemmin esiintyi ensimmäistä kertaa vallankumouksen jälkeen sekä naisille että miehille Teheranin kuuluisimmalla lavalla. Ryhmä kuitenkin taistelee jatkuvaa kiusantekoa vastaan. Jo kertaalleen hyväksytyt esitykset perutaan, valot sammutetaan kesken esitysten ja liiallinen julkisuus esimerkiksi Instagramissa voi johtaa osallistuvien taiteilijoiden pidätykseen. Kun vallankumouksen aikaan baletti symbolisoi riippumattomuutta läntisestä maailmasta, tänä päivänä tanssi edustaa tämän sukupolven kaipuuta länsimaiseen vapauteen. Tämä tarina kertoo yhteiskunnallisesta muutoksesta Iranissa alakulttuurin kautta, jolle tanssi on yksi elämän perusasioista. Nämä tanssijat asettavat luottamuksensa taitoihinsa ja vahvuuteensa saavuttaakseen unelmansa ja piittaamatta epäsuodullisista oloista, joita kohtaavat. Tanssijat edustavat kokonaista sukupolvea, joka vaatii sille tarkoitettua tulevaisuutta. Silke Koch, Saksa SUSPICIOUS OBJECTS New Yorkin John F. Kennedy International Airport lentokentällä saapuvilta matkustajilta otettiin sormenjäljet ja heidän valokuvansa tallennettiin Yhdysvaltojen maahanmuuttoviranomaisten tietokantoihin. Muutamaa päivää myöhemmin Lontoossa räjähti useita pommeja, joita seurasi maailmanlaajuinen itsemurhapommitusten ketju. New Yorkin metrossa ihmisiä ja heidän matkatavaroitaan tarkastettiin pelkän epäilyksen pohjalta. Kaduilla oli tavaroita, joiden omistajia ei vaikuttanut olevan lähettyvillä. Mutta ovatko ne myös epäilyttäviä? Kuka tai mikä tekee näistä esineistä epäilyttäviä? (Valokuva)todiste vai juoni? Hans Magnus Enzensberger kuvaa maailmanloppua “katastrofiksi mielessä” sen musertavan kuvamäärän vuoksi. Teoksissaan Silke Koch käsittelee julkista tilaa sosiaalisen esittämisen paikkana ja kyseenalaistaa sen sopivuutta identiteetin perustaksi. "If you see something – say something" ("jos näet jotakin – sano jotakin") on iskulause, jonka tarkoitus on pitää New Yorkin asukkaat valppaina siltä varalta, että valvomattomassa matkalaukussa, repussa tai muissa tavaroissa on pelättyjä räjähteitä, kun ollaan oranssilla hälytystasolla (korkein varoitustaso). Tämän varoituksen myötä epäilyttävistä tavaroista/veistoksista kuvattiin valokuvakokoelma internetissä löytyneiden ohjeiden mukaisesti. Valokuvat esittävät (oletettavasti) valvomattomia tavaroita, jotka ”dokumentoidaan” rekisteröintijärjestelmän mukaisesti antamalla niille numero, kuvaus ja sijainti. COVID-19-ilmiössä on yhtäläisyyksiä iskulauseeseen "jos näet jotakin, sano jotakin". Tämä on paradoksaalista, sillä virukset, toisin kuin (oletettavasti) valvomatta jätetyt tavarat, eivät ole nähtävissä paljain silmin. Molemmissa tapauksissa tilannekohtaisen luottamuksen tapahtumapaikkana on julkinen tila. Näin julkisesta tilasta tulee näyttämö skenaarioille, jotka haastavat luottamuksemme käsittämättömällä tavalla. Teodelina Detry, Argentiina TRUST “Luottamus on kaikkien suhteiden perusta. Meidän pitää harjoitella ja kehittää sitä syntymästämme saakka. Ensimmäiset oppimme saamme vanhemmiltamme tai muilta rakastavilta vertailukohteilta. Onnistunut oppiminen antaa meille tarvittavat valmiudet luottaa ensin itseemme ja sitten muihin. Luota muihin itsesi jälkeen. Ja viimeisimpänä muttei vähäisimpänä, meidän on todella opittava luottamaan elämään! Meidän on ymmärrettävä, että se on kaunista, mutta täynnä odottamattomia töyssyjä. Se saa meidät tuntemaan olomme turvalliseksi ja itsevarmaksi, ja sen myötä meillä on enemmän mahdollisuuksia kukoistaa.” Detry Tomas Olsen, Suomi INANIMATE Inanimate-projekti kuvaa ihmisten harjoittamaa oman ympäristönsä hallintaa. Projekti koostuu pienten kasvi-installaatioiden sarjasta,

joka on dokumentoitu valokuvauksen keinoin. Nämä installaatiot ilmentävät kipua ja julmuutta. Tarkoituksena on näyttää, että ympäristölle haitalliset asiat ovat haitallisia myös ihmisille. Olemme osa ympäristöämme. Olemme yhtä. Tom Atwood, Yhdysvallat KINGS & QUEENS IN THEIR CASTLES Kings & Queens in Their Castles -sarjaa on kutsuttu yhdeksi kunnianhimoisimmista Yhdysvaltojen HLBTQ-väestön kokemuksia kuvaavista valokuvasarjoista. Atwood on 15 vuoden aikana kuvannut yli 350 mallia, mukaan lukien lähes 100 julkisuuden henkilöä. Kuvissa esiintyy ihmisiä 30 osavaltiosta. Atwood avaa ikkunan Yhdysvaltojen kiinnostavimpien ja erikoisimpien persoonien elämiin ja koteihin kuvaamalla heitä kotona, turvallisissa yksityistiloissa. Valokuvat ovat moderneja eläviä kuvia, tableaux vivants, jotka esittävät kuvallisuudesta teatraalisuuteen vaihtelevia, leikillisiä ja intiimejä arkihetkiä. Luovan alan toimijoiden, kuten taitelijoiden, muotisuunnittelijoiden, kirjailijoiden, näyttelijöiden, ohjaajien, muusikkojen ja tanssijoiden lisäksi sarja esittää liike-elämän johtajia, poliitikkoja, toimittajia, aktivisteja ja uskonnollisia johtajia. Mukana on ihmisiä, jotka pitävät yhteiskunnan pyörimässä, kuten maanviljelijöitä, mehiläistarhureita, lääkäreitä, kokkeja, baarityöntekijöitä ja majata lonpitäjiä. Joitakin satunnaisia urheilijoita, opiskelijoita, professoreita, drag queeneja ja seurapiirijulkkiksia. Mukana on myös sarjakuvapiirtäjä, barista, runoilija, koomikko, laivastoteknikko, paleontologi ja transsukupuolinen poliisi. Teoksissa esiintyy myös urbaaneja boheemeja, beatnikkeja, yksinäisiä susia ja kapinallisia, joista monet kukoistivat 1960–70-luvuilla, mutta jotka vaikuttavat olevan hitaasti katoamassa. Yolanda del Amo, Espanja/Yhdysvallat REFUGE Refuge projekti tutkii pakolaiskriisiä sosiologisen prisman läpi ja keskittyy siirtolaisten kotoutumiseen Saksassa vuoden 2015 suuren siirtolaisaallon jälkeen. Yolanda haluaa haastaa mediassa laajalti nähdyt kuvat, joissa esiintyi lähinnä siirtolaismassoja tai pakolaisia leireillä ilman yksilöllisyyttä, minkä vuoksi hän kääntää kameransa suljettujen ovien taakse. Taiteilija on valinnut kuvattavaksi saksalaisia ja pakolaisia, jotka asuvat saman katon alla: esimeriksi perheitä, jotka ovat ottaneet luokseen alaikäisen, pariskuntia, jotka ovat muodostaneet romanttisen suhteen sekä useiden kämppisten jakamia asuntoja. Näiden uusien kotitalouksien perustana on luottamuksen tunne saksalaisten ja siirtolaisten välillä. Sen ytimessä ei ole vain avoin neuvottelu arkirutiinien eroista, vaan myös vieraiden ruokien, kulttuurien ja uskontojen hyväksyntä. Keskustelu maahanmuutosta maalaa pakolaiset usein esimerkiksi maahantunkeutujina tai uhreina tai sankareina. Yolandan kuvissa murtaudutaan pois näistä arkkityypeistä ja siirtolaiset kuvataan tavallisina yksilöinä, jotka tekevät kotitöitä yhdessä saksalaisten kämppäkavereidensa kanssa. Toiseuden etsimisen sijaan Refuge keskittyy yhdessäoloon niiden yksilöiden välillä, jotka rakentavat luottamusta toisiinsa ja oppivat toisiltaan katsoessaan toisiaan silmästä silmään. Valokuvaprojekti keskittyy saksalaisiin asukkaisiin yhtä paljon kuin pakolaisiinkin. Taiteilija keskittyy Saksaan, koska maalla on ollut erityinen asema pakolaiskriisissä. Se on hyväksynyt uskomattoman määrän siirtolaisia. Myös maan historia tekee sen toiminnasta merkittävää. Refuge tarjoaa optimistisen ja toiveikkaan näkökulman maahanmuuttoilmiöön, joka on aiemmin jakanut Saksaa ja monia muita yhteiskuntia. Tyylillisesti Yolanda päätti luoda lavastettuja kuvia herättääkseen kysymyksiä identiteetin, perheen, kodin ja sukupuolen sosiaalisista konstruktioista. Luottamus on myös keskeinen osa hänen omaa luovaa prosessiaan. Taiteilija työskentelee suuren formaatin kameralla, ja kuvat ovat hänen ja osallistujien aidon yhteistyön tulosta. Osallistujat ovat anteliaasti jakaneet tarinansa hänen kanssaan ja luottaneet siihen, että hän suojelee heidä henkilöllisyyttään ja käyttää kuvia kunnioittavasti.

HELSINKI PHOTO FESTIVAL Festival Map 7.7.–30.9.2020

Access to Stoa from Itäkeskus 8 M

Itäkeskus Sörnäinen

Outdoor exhibitions

1 The National Museum of Finland Museokatu,

Töölönkatu and the museum’s Summer Yard

6 M

Kalasatama

2 Tähtitorninvuoren puisto

3 Pyhän Birgitan puisto Hernesaarenranta 4 M

4 Karhupuisto Viides linja 1

6 Teurastamo Työpajankatu 2

7 JCDecaux exhibition City of Helsinki

Railway station

Kamppi

Indoor exhibitions

8 Cultural Centre Stoa Turunlinnantie 1

Ruoholahti

10 Klaus K Hotel lobby Bulevardi 2-4

University of Helsinki

9 Korjaamo Culture Factory Töölönkatu 51

Seminars, workshops and portfolio reviews 1

Hakaniemi

5 Sörnäistenlaituri

Kansallismuseo Mannerheimintie 34

Transportation options Metro

Tram lines 1 and 10

Helsinki Photo Festival 2020 invites photo enthusiasts to exhibitions of 58 international and Nordic photographers spread all over the City of Helsinki. The theme for the festival is Trust, a vital cornerstone for every society given the challenging times the world has been facing throughout 2020.

Helsinki Photo Festival 2020 kutsuu kaikki valokuvataiteen harrastajat ja ystävät 58 kansainvälisen ja pohjoismaalaisen valokuvaajan näyttelyihin eri puolilla Helsinkiä. Festivaalin teemana on Luottamus, joka on jokaisen yhteiskunnan oleellinen peruskivi etenkin näinä haastavina aikoina, joita elämme tänä vuonna ympäri maailmaa.

Helsinki Photo Festival 2020 lockar fotoentusiaster till utställningar runt om i Helsingfors presenterande 58 internationella och nordiska fotografer. Festivalens tema är Förtroende, en viktig hörnsten i varje samhälle med hänsyn till de utmaningar vår värld konfronterats med under 2020.

The main exhibition hub in 2020 is set up on the outdoor premises of The National Museum of Finland. First-of-its-kind, modular shaped exhibition stands display curated images of the most popular works of the festival’s open call winners on the walls surrounding the museum’s courtyard park (Museokatu & Töölönkatu).

Festivaalin päänäyttely vuonna 2020 on pystytetty Suomen Kansallismuseon ulkotiloihin, jonka ympäristössä oleville muureille (Museokatu & Töölönkatu) on ripustettu festivaalille kuratoitu näyttely tämänvuotisen avoimen haun kautta valikoituneista voittajista ja näiden suosituimmista teoksista.

In addition, the museum’s summer yard is featuring emerging Finnish and Nordic photographers in The Nordic Village and a kid’s corner with international artists.

Tämän lisäksi museon Kesäpihalla toimii The Nordic Village, joka esittää nousevia suomalaisia ja pohjoismaisia valokuvaajia sekä lasten nurkkaus kansainvälisine taiteilijoineen.

All of Helsinki Photo Festival’s theory and pedagogy events are also to be held at the National Museum of Finland.

Kaikki Helsinki Photo Festivalin seminaarit, työpajat ja muu koulutuksellinen ohjelma tapahtuu Kansallismuseon tiloissa.

#helphoto20 #helsinkiphotofestival www.helsinkiphotofestival.com

Festivalens huvudknutpunkt är en utomhusutställning vid Finlands Nationalmuseum. I modulära montrar, de första i sitt slag, hängda på muren som omgärdar muséets innergård (vid Museigatan & Tölögatan) visas en kuraterad serie med de populäraste bidragen från festivalens open call-vinnare. På muséets sommargård finns Nordic Village med nya finländska och nordiska talanger inom fotografi och barnens hörna med internationella konstnärer. Alla Helsinki Photo Festivals teori- och pedagogikevenemang hålls på Nationalmuséet.

Helsinki Photo News 2020

Articles inside

Laura Bisgaard Krogh & Andreas Haubjerg

Berglind Hreidarsdottir

Online Shop

Elena Kollatou & Leonidas Toumpanos

M’hammed Kilito

Carl-Mikael Ström

Renja Nurmi

Magnus Cederlund

Tomas Olsen

Geir Moseid

Hans Jørgen Ro

Curatorial statements

The Festival Map 2020

Thank You Helsinki Photo Festival 2020

Open call 2021

Seminar Arno Rafael Minkkinen & Stefan Bremer

Seminar Elina Brotherus & Svante Gullichsen

Artistiesittelyt suomeksi

JCDecaux Digital Photo Exhibition

Portfolio Reviews

Dilla Djalil Daniel

Master Class Stig Marlon Weston

Expert Index

Margeaux Walter

Otto Hainzl

Ami Vitale

Cop Shiva

Alain Schroeder

Nadja Hallström

Noel Bowler

Ciro Battiloro

Heikki Humberg

Sasha Maslov

Shirin Abedi

Mary Gelman

Yolanda del Amo

Robin Alysha Clemens

Gloria Oyarzabal

Christian Bobst

Tom Atwood

Alexis Vasilikos

Cocoa Laney

Eric Hanson

Arnold Grojean

Carrie & Eric Tomberlin

Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen

Fotografiepolak

Alex McBride

Oskar Alvarado

Anton Ivanov

Nuno Serrão

Laura Liverani

Dorota Stolarska

Huang Qingjun

Silke Koch

Kamil Matziol

Chimera Singer

Mogens Kjoeller

Teodelina Detry

Reiko Ishida

Maria Lax

Shinwook Kim

Gordon Spooner

Melissa Ianniello

Elizabeth M Sanders

Lauren Foster

Elise Corten

Florence Montmare

Anna Ellen Hamlet

Marlena Waldthausen

Helsinki Photo News

Nordic Village