Ukkometso

According to Finnish folklore, the world was created out of the shell of a duck egg made of gold and iron, with the first human bred by a goddess impregnated by the wind. According to the same mythology, human life commenced in a place called Kalevala, now known as Kainuu, situated on the west side of Finnish - Russian border. Kainuu might be the birthplace of civilization, but it is these days notorious as the area with the highest suicide rates in Finland, and as a stronghold of the patriotic True Finns' party. It is a place where East and West clash, a place of free market economy and totalitarianism, and a place of steep population decline. Together in a group of five photographers we explored this place and its people. Working as a visual collective everyone worked in their own photographic way. Holding the Finnish folklore stories in our minds throughout the exploration, our aim was to catch a connection with those and whatever is now in the contemporary life. I drove around the area, from house to house, trying to find interesting coincidences. The collaboration work of five photographers will be exhibited for the first time at Photographic Centre Peri, Turku Finland 16.5.2014 - 8.6.2014.