images to inspire
I finally had a chance to visit family and friends back in Finland this summer. It’s been far too long, 5 years, since the last visit. It really felt wonderful to finally be with people who I have missed tremendously! Many friends have wondered what it is that I spend my time doing these days, so I decided to bring along some of my underwater images. I was really lucky to find the perfect venue to exhibit some of my aluminum prints of underwater critters and landscapes captured in Papua New Guinea. The venue was in the middle of the city of Vasa at Kaffehuset August. I say “lucky” because this time of the year it is not necessarily easy to find a venue due to the City’s very popular Night of the Arts which happens at the beginning of August making competition for “exhibit space” a little tighter than normal. I say “perfect” because I couldn’t have found a more central location, a space where people could easily come to check out the images. It just happened have exactly the amount of exhibit space that I needed and the the vaulted light ocean blue walls created the perfect ambiance for the underwater theme of the exhibit. The great thing about this exhibit for me personally was that as the word got out, it helped me reconnect with many dear friends. I am truly grateful to everyone who who helped make this project happen, especially to Marten and Mia of August, the talented author Gunilla Heick who wrote yet another article about me in Vasabladet, Hippi of Radio Vasa who promoted the exhibit and who also is a former colleague and good friend, Jaska of Laine tuotanto who did some last minute perfecting work to the metal prints, my friend and fellow photographer Svenna who helped me with venue ideas, my parents who took care of all arrangements after I had to leave to go back to VI and who let me spread out and take over their house while preparing for the exhibit, my dad for crafting the most beautiful easels for me and my super-hero Scott for not only helping me carry camera gear between the continents but also for relentlessly and successfully negotiating with airline check-in personnel around the globe about over-sized and over-weight baggage. Hereunder is a little video-clip containing an interview regarding this exhibit. Interview conducted in Swedish by Radio Vasa.
