The frustrations, the shortcomings and the beauty of it all
Lately I haven’t been able to really engage in any photography of my own; the sort of image making that’s free of external pressures, expectations and control. That is heavy on the soul and ultimately leads to creative blocks and artistic self doubt. That is the nature of survival in this system - gotta stay on the grind even when it means exchanging whatever little time I have on this Earth to a small amount of bits and bytes on a digital account. That is the agreement and the deal we’ve arrived at for a number of reasons. Resources on this planet are finite and while there clearly is enough to go around, we uphold a system that distributes all of that unequally and favours those who have either the resources or indifference to horde more than others. That said, I’m among the lucky few and it is both humbling and embarrassing.
To have work is to eat and I’m fortunate enough to have that. At least for now.
It is my hope and intention to carve out some more time to just be and see and feel. With and without a camera. I have several projects I have been working on over the years as well as some new ideas I want to really get going with but as with everything else it seems like, they get run over by the noise and demands of every day life.
Normally I photograph people and their surroundings. Lately, though, I’ve been finding myself looking at empty spaces. I don’t really know why that is or if it is even interesting but things flow like they do. Maybe it’ll evolve into something different next year.
The soul crushing architecture of itä-Pasila has always caught my eye. It feels like our neighbours to east yet is distinctly Nordic.
As a kid, I used to walk through here often on my way to friend’s house to do homework - except we mainly only watched The Simpsons and played on his 486 PC.
Late afternoon sun through the diffused windows and doors of a tucked away office entrance. Impeccable mood.
Boarded up windows within a two minute walk from one of the biggest malls in the entire Scandinavian region is a true sign of the times.
Sometimes the simplest message is the best one; I could not agree more.
Public government offices and buildings are cared for - across the street the story is a little different.
Finally, a song I remember listening to quite a lot some 20 years ago. This same album also features a song called “Dayjob hold artist down”. Hard to argue with that.