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Does it feel familiar? – Photographs of everyday life in Finland

(c) Susanna Juvakka, 2016

Does it feel familiar? – Photographs of everyday life in Finland

The Finnish Museum of Photography
The Finnish Museum of Photography

7.2.–20.5.2018
Images
What does your everyday life feel like: the morning rush-hour or a sleep-in in the morning, lunch at the canteen or a quickly grabbed ready meal from the shop? In 2016, ten photographers documented everyday Finnish life, each from their own personal point of view. The starting point was to comment on the increasing inequality in Finnish society. People may find some of the stories captured in the images easy to relate to, while others may be more remote.

The exhibition provokes thoughts about financial worries, the sufficiency of social services, and the importance of family and friends at difficult times in life. There’s also a lot of hope and happiness in the images. Where does trust in the future come from? If we understood each other better, would it increase our ability to experience empathy and togetherness? Maybe it is the small coincidences that determine how our lives ultimately turn out?

Photographs by Pira Cousin, Aimo Hyvärinen, Susanna Juvakka, Taru Leinonen, Pasi Räsämäki, Arto Timonen, Adolfo Vera, Hannu Väisänen, Mikko Waltari, and Saana Wang.

 

In addition to images from 2016, photographs from the Finnish Museum of Photography collection, from the 1950s to the 2000s, have been selected for display at the exhibition.

Older photographs by Helvi Ahonen, Caj Bremer, Helge Heinonen, Ismo Hölttö, Per Olov Jansson, Ben Kaila, Raakel Kuukka, Eino Mäkinen, Kalervo Ojutkangas, Mikko Savolainen, Tapio Vanhatalo, and Pekka V. Virtanen.

 

The exhibition is based on a workshop entitled Arjen kuvat (‘Photographs of Everyday Life’), which was implemented by the Photographic Artists’ Association in 2016 as part of a University of Eastern Finland research project entitled Two Finlands – Is Inequality Increasing? The project combines social science research, journalism, and photographic art to discuss the increasing inequality in Finland in the 2010s. The photography workshop was led by Ida Pimenoff and Liisa Söderlund. The 400 photographs created in the workshop were donated to the collection of the Finnish Museum of Photography.

The Two Finlands project was funded by the Kone Foundation.

 

The exhibition has been supported by Tradeka.

Free admission for Tradeka members with PINS card.

The Finnish Museum of Photography
The Finnish Museum of Photography

7.2.–20.5.2018
Images
Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

Photo: Henna Helenius / The Finnish Museum of Photography

“Ykä is a divorcee, a father to two boys, a carpenter, and a multi-talented cultural figure, who moves from one temporary job to another.” Aimo Hyvärinen documented the Sastamala-based Yrjö Pihlajamäki’s life for a year. Yrjö takes care of his children and home, spends time with his friends, and looks for work. Photo: Aimo Hyvärinen, 2016

“Ykä is a divorcee, a father to two boys, a carpenter, and a multi-talented cultural figure, who moves from one temporary job to another.” Aimo Hyvärinen documented the Sastamala-based Yrjö Pihlajamäki’s life for a year. Yrjö takes care of his children and home, spends time with his friends, and looks for work. Photo: Aimo Hyvärinen, 2016

“In the late winter, I get a call from my mother. Mother, grandmother, and great grandmother has died. Grandmother had been in hospital since Christmas Eve. Two days after the sad news, a newborn baby is crying on my shoulder.” Photo: Arto Timonen, 2016

“In the late winter, I get a call from my mother. Mother, grandmother, and great grandmother has died. Grandmother had been in hospital since Christmas Eve. Two days after the sad news, a newborn baby is crying on my shoulder.” Photo: Arto Timonen, 2016

Photo: Arto Timonen, 2016

Photo: Arto Timonen, 2016

Kuva: Hannu Väisänen, 2016

Hannu Väisänen’s series of photographs captures everyday moments in the life of a mature student, living alone, over the course of one year. His life in Helsinki is divided between his home in the Kallio district and the Eira High School for Adults. The most important events in Väisänen’s year were the matriculation examination and the honour of becoming the godfather to a childhood friend’s baby girl. Photo: Hannu Väisänen, 2016

What is everyday life like in Finland for someone running a small business? Taru Leinonen has taken photographs of the everyday life of women entre-preneurs in the town of Järvenpää. She starts with her own business, and goes on to take photographs of other entrepreneurs who are in a similar situation. Photo: Taru Leinonen, 2016

What is everyday life like in Finland for someone running a small business? Taru Leinonen has taken photographs of the everyday life of women entre-preneurs in the town of Järvenpää. She starts with her own business, and goes on to take photographs of other entrepreneurs who are in a similar situation. Photo: Taru Leinonen, 2016

“My life is divided into two parts. First comes the week that I live with my children, which is followed by another week when their life is elsewhere. My life is in fragments, here and there, and this is why I feel quite rushed and busy – although everything is OK.” Photo: Pasi Räsämäki, 2016

“My life is divided into two parts. First comes the week that I live with my children, which is followed by another week when their life is elsewhere. My life is in fragments, here and there, and this is why I feel quite rushed and busy – although everything is OK.” Photo: Pasi Räsämäki, 2016

“I’m interested in depicting reality through imitation. In my series, I have photo-graphed staged everyday scenes, through which I want to show two Finlands that are socially and economically completely different.” Photo: Adolfo Vera, 2016

“I’m interested in depicting reality through imitation. In my series, I have photo-graphed staged everyday scenes, through which I want to show two Finlands that are socially and economically completely different.” Photo: Adolfo Vera, 2016

Mikko Waltari’s photographs form two intertwining stories: the fifty-something father is rebuilding his life and thinking about how he got there, while his grown-up daughter, Arja, lives a happy, routine-based life with her fiancé, Marcus, at the Rinnekoti care facility in Espoo. Lying at the heart of Waltari’s photographs is the question: what is the good life? Why do I live the way I do? Photo: Mikko Waltari, 2016

Mikko Waltari’s photographs form two intertwining stories: the fifty-something father is rebuilding his life and thinking about how he got there, while his grown-up daughter, Arja, lives a happy, routine-based life with her fiancé, Marcus, at the Rinnekoti care facility in Espoo. Lying at the heart of Waltari’s photographs is the question: what is the good life? Why do I live the way I do? Photo: Mikko Waltari, 2016

“The first sound that a human baby makes when entering the world is ulti-mately very small. At the time, the individual is still ignorant of their sur-roundings; about the world forming around them.” Photo: Saana Wang, 2016

“The first sound that a human baby makes when entering the world is ulti-mately very small. At the time, the individual is still ignorant of their sur-roundings; about the world forming around them.” Photo: Saana Wang, 2016

“The meaning of life comes from being connected to other people, caring for and looking after others. Human value cannot be measured in economic terms, using productivity as a yardstick.” Pira Cousin has taken photographs of her mother and her brother, who got schizophrenia when he was young and is living in a group home. Photo: Pira Cousin, 2016

“The meaning of life comes from being connected to other people, caring for and looking after others. Human value cannot be measured in economic terms, using productivity as a yardstick.” Pira Cousin has taken photographs of her mother and her brother, who got schizophrenia when he was young and is living in a group home. Photo: Pira Cousin, 2016

“The rehabilitation benefit is small, and the money only covers the absolute necessities. Music is important to me, as it helps me to cope even through the most difficult days. Photography will also be a big part of my life in the future. The story must continue.” Susanna Juvakka uses the camera like a diary, documenting everyday joys and struggles, and taking intimate self-portraits. Juvakka suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome. Photo: Susanna Juvakka, 2016

“The rehabilitation benefit is small, and the money only covers the absolute necessities. Music is important to me, as it helps me to cope even through the most difficult days. Photography will also be a big part of my life in the future. The story must continue.” Susanna Juvakka uses the camera like a diary, documenting everyday joys and struggles, and taking intimate self-portraits. Juvakka suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome. Photo: Susanna Juvakka, 2016

The amateur photographer Pekka V. Virtanen's photos show happy, everyday moments in the life of the family, but through his camera, Virtanen also makes observations about his colleagues and the life and environment of his home district, the market town of Lauritsala. Photo: Pekka V. Virtanen, Sick child, 1958

The amateur photographer Pekka V. Virtanen's photos show happy, everyday moments in the life of the family, but through his camera, Virtanen also makes observations about his colleagues and the life and environment of his home district, the market town of Lauritsala. Photo: Pekka V. Virtanen, Sick child, 1958

“The life of the Friman family was not a bed of roses. They worked hard from early morning to late evening, but they were still cheerful and full of conversation. I’m not likely to forget the Friman family anytime soon.” In order to document the everyday life of a small farming family in Muonio in 1968, Caj Bremer stayed with the Friman family for a week. The family, with five children, had been forced to move and start their life over to obtain enough farmland. Photo: Caj Bremer, 1973

“The life of the Friman family was not a bed of roses. They worked hard from early morning to late evening, but they were still cheerful and full of conversation. I’m not likely to forget the Friman family anytime soon.” In order to document the everyday life of a small farming family in Muonio in 1968, Caj Bremer stayed with the Friman family for a week. The family, with five children, had been forced to move and start their life over to obtain enough farmland. Photo: Caj Bremer, 1973

Ben Kaila’s book Koditon (Homeless) is dedicated to homeless people in Helsinki, whom he photographed between 2000 and 2002. In the images, homeless people look directly into the camera. The images do not present the fate of these people in a romanticised or shocking light. Each person has their own life situation and their own reasons for it. Homelessness does not always show on the outside. Photo: Ben Kaila, Linnanmäki, 2000

Ben Kaila’s book Koditon (Homeless) is dedicated to homeless people in Helsinki, whom he photographed between 2000 and 2002. In the images, homeless people look directly into the camera. The images do not present the fate of these people in a romanticised or shocking light. Each person has their own life situation and their own reasons for it. Homelessness does not always show on the outside. Photo: Ben Kaila, Linnanmäki, 2000