Magazine 2/2010 - Emma

The crop for the firsttriennial EMMA Prize visualarts competition is now ripefor the public to enjoy.This time the art form wasphotography, next time itwill be something else.This summer’s exhibitionof the ten finalists offers astimulating cross-sectionof the work of the youngergeneration of photographersin this country. They eachhave their own distinctiveway of playing with lightand shadow, whetherproducing classicalportraits or digital,computer- generatedcollages.Text Leena JoutsenniemiBetween the idea and the reality, 2009.Mikko Rikala studiesthe relationship betweenless than 146 series were entered, aNO total of 590 photographs, which thejury viewed anonymously. There was a clearemphasis on narratives and art prints but veryfew documentary pictures.- The entries were of very high standard,says jury chairman Markku Valkonen, so it wasno easy task selecting the ten finalists.The competition was won by Mikko Rikalafor his series Between idea and reality.- The series shows a masterly ability tograsp both moment and situation that is soessential in photography. The works are enigmatic,almost surrealist, fresh and optimistic.Although the first impression comes quickly, tocapture everything you are forced to linger. Interms of composition and colour they functionbeautifully together, says Valkonen summingup the jury’s impressions.In addition to the chairman Markku Valkonen,the members of the jury were EMMAcurator Päivi Talasmaa, Tapiola Group directorArto Jurttila, photographers Timo Kelaranta andRitva Kovalainen of the Union of Artist Photographersand artist Anja Rahola, of the Friendsof EMMA Society.