Magazine 2/2010 - Emma

EMMA PrizeElina Julin (born 1979 )Anna Katariina Pesonen (born 1979)Elina Julin, Ghosts, 2010.Ghosts / Haamut, 2010Ghosts here are the ghosts of pictures, theunseen parts of my photographs, the masks ofpictures familiar to the photographer. I work alot on the screen and that’s where these interestingfigures appeared from. I have processedmasks in the same way as I would have processedany of my photos. In any case I wish todraw attention to those insignificant and soundlessthings that often remain unnoticed. Simplethings are often the most complex. Theseghosts, as my friend calls them, have now materialisedout of nothingness. The series revealsmy interest in how a picture is made, the roleof light and shadow, and simplified expression.I think my work could as easily be from ink orcharcoal as a photogram, even if they are justsimply photographs.Autobiography, 2009My series is based on Laura Mulvey’s feministfilm theory, the main thesis of which is that inmainstream commercial cinema women arealways shown as the object of the male gaze.Experimental film avoids treating women as apassive object because the viewer is aware thatit is only a story on a screen.In my series I am using a traditional set ofmotifs. Perhaps the most featured parts of thehuman body are the torso, the back and thecurve of hip. Using different elements and photographicmethods, I have tried to distance theviewer from the body as such. In the individualphotographs, I refer to the models, phenomena,but also the idols and fancies imposed onwomen during their lives.Mikko Rikala (born 1977)Kimmo Metsäranta, A falsesense of space, 2010.Nelli Palomäki, Sanni at 30 years, 2010.Kimmo Metsäranta (born 1978)A False Sense of Space, 2010In my series I study how the imagination canfashion a space in the dark and tell a storyon the basis of the fragments I’ve provided.Spaces are like stages for events in which manis present in one way or another. These staticlooking places retain the assumption of pastor future events whilst the darkness feeds theimagination. Similarly, the absence of allusionsallows viewers to have their own interpretationbased on fantasies. Story-telling has a powerfulpresence in my series, partly due to the tensioncreated by the darkness in the photos, butabove all because of the influence of the cinematographicnarrative. Our way of interpretingpictures is strongly influenced by what we havealready seen.Between the idea and the reality, 2009My work examines how man adapts to theenvironment. Instead of concrete documentationI approach the subject more abstractly.The element of hiding in the pictures is a metaphoricalway of reacting to the environment. Itleaves room for the viewer’s own experiencesand associations. The figures in my picturesdo not directly adapt to their environment orrise up against its demands. They react tothe environment, relate to it in some way anduse elements of it to create a kind of maskbetween them and the viewer. The gesture ofmasking removes their seen identity, whichdefines them according to age, colour, genderand social role. At the same time the way inwhich they mask themselves reveals somethingessential about their character. What isrevealed when the surface is concealed?Nelli Palomäki (born 1981)6Anna Katariina Pesonen, Frida, 2010.Aino 27 years, Julia 5 yearsand Sanni 30 years, from theseries Elsa and Viola, 2010.My works are pure portraits. I believe that a portraithas the ability to convey memories of a specifictime, at its most successful to show eventsfrom a number of years. A picture can simultaneouslyreveal, conceal or even harm. Whatis most important is the presence of the sitterand the look that focuses on the photographer,the thoughts of viewer and sitter. The intimatemood of the pictures is created by the degree ofsensitivity and interactivity that exists betweenme and the sitter when I’m taking the picture.I don’t want colours in my pictures. Black andwhite supports the feeling of timelessness; sittersare not bound to any specific day.Jarkko Räsänen (born 1984)1 & 3 ways (2010)The pictures in the series are photographic collages.I have written a computer program thatenables me to slice the digital picture file intothin strips and reorganise them according todifferent parameters. The result is three versionsof the same file, not one of which lookslike the original photo of the stairway. Thespaces portrayed in this parallel series of largeprints communicate with each other and createimages of new spaces.