Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio (@fsmastra), Chile. "The Cumbias We Heard Up There"
Mastrantonio met Deysi in September en route to a commission to portray fifty women from indigenous origins. That day, she drove her small rental car for hours, lost in the highlands.
“I felt deep happiness, then anxiety, fear, optimism, and resignation. I went through all the mental states until it began to get dark, and I was overcome with terror: I had been lost for so long in a maze of paths that it was impossible to even think of going back,” Mastrantonio said.
Finding Deysi was her only option. Tired and trying not to despair, she retraced her steps toward the last detour she had taken. In the distance, almost imperceptible on a hill, she saw a white dot.
It was Deysi.
Deysi is a thirty-six-year-old Aymara woman. She raises her llamas and alpacas to sell their meat and their wool, keeping alive her ancestors` values of deep respect and care for nature. Two worlds converge in her: the Western world and that of the indigenous people. These two worlds, intertwined, represent an alternative and courageous way of living.
This ongoing project is an open question: How to undertake the search for things that, in a certain way, have to do with displacing the frontiers of one`s own being into unknown territories?
Fernanda Soto Mastrantonio is a photographer based in Chile. She has a BA in Photography and Digital Creation in 2015 at Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya and an MA in Photography at the Escuela Lens in Madrid, Spain. In 2022, she was commissioned by OIM for their Todo lo Que Esta Bien campaign in Chile and by the UN Women’s Originarias campaign. In 2023, she won Portrait of Humanity vol 5 for the British Journal of Photography in the UK.
Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #konst #chileanphographers
Open Call Nordic Village. Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Björn Nilsson (@fodor13), Sweden. "Samtal Misslyckades"
When something changes in a relationship thoughts, feelings and fears appear. Sometimes there is a struggle. A silence. A failed conversation.
It is often through heritage, tradition and media that people are taught how a man and a woman “should be” and how they should relate to each other in a relationship. So how is the male self-image affected when the woman for instance starts to earn more money than the man? And how is the sexual relationship affected if the man suddenly is responsible for most of the domestic work?
Samtal Misslyckades (Conversation Failed) is about people who have lived together for a longer period of time. The project is partly based on the personal experiences of Björn Nilsson Fodor from various relationships, but also on the experiences of other couples that have arisen through conversations. Taking a look at power structures, gender roles and sexuality, Björn has spoken with people who, like others, are in their midlife. People and couples who are struggling with various adversities and bouts of anxiety in their everyday lives. People who love, compromise, sacrifice and fail. Is there even a possibility of understanding and reconciliation without communication?
In this project, Björn has been working with Lina Holmgren, a psychologist based in Gothenburg and an expert on the breakdown of communication. He is also working with Alex Pacheco from Crash Boom Bang Studios in Stockholm, with the design and launch of a book.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #relationships #swedishphotographer #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #konst
Winner Open Call Nordic Village. Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Darina Rodionova (@daru_visuals), Finland. "Cultural Resistance. Ukrainian Artists During Wartime"
Although it is easy for art to fall by the wayside in times of war or disaster, it is the most needed thing during these times. It provides hope, comfort, and a sense of unity for those affected by tragedy. Art can also contribute to the broader social, cultural, and political shifts that ultimately shape a more peaceful world.
The project highlights this importance of art, the struggles Ukrainian artists faced and their courage that it took to continue creating in the midst of war. The Ukrainian "cultural front" during wartime is a testament to the resilience of its people. Ukrainian culture has been oppressed by the colonial policy of Russia for a long time, and it escalated with the full-scale invasion in 2022.
This topic is particularly close to the heart of Darina Rodionova, as she has family in Ukraine (Darina’s mother is from Donetsk Oblast, Donbas region), while Darina was born and raised in Russia and still feels a connection to its colonial culture. For her, it is essential to acknowledge the responsibility that comes with this connection. To Darina, this means taking action to support and amplify the voices of those most affected by colonialism and actively working towards a more just and equitable future.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Merci beaucoup to Polycopies book fair helping us to distribute our newest publication Helsinki Photo News! #helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto #paris #france #polycopies #seine #helsinki
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Natalya Saprunova (@natalya.saprunova), France. "Living on the Pole of Cold"
The people of Oymyakon, situated in Yakutia in Eastern Siberia and also known as the Pole of Cold, brave a distinctly continental climate, characterized by long winters with temperatures below 45° C and short summers. The place is considered the coldest permanently inhabited settlement on Earth, following the recorded negative temperatures of -71.2° C in 1924. Living on a permafrost land, the people are mainly engaged in herding cows, horses and reindeer. As there is no running water in their homes, the people have very limited access to water.
The village of Oymyakon is located on the left bank of the Indigirka River and is connected to nearby settlements such as Bereg-Yurdya and Tomtor. All of this area belongs to the Oymyakonsky District and has a population of about 2000 people. Despite having central heating, provided by hot water that is heated by coal and then runs through the pipes in the villages, the houses do not have sanitary facilities inside.
As a very isolated place, the community of Oymyakonsky District hope that the government of Yakutia will assign them a specific geo-climatic status in order to benefit from financial aid for the construction of the necessary infrastructures for everyday life and animal husbandry.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Laara Dashti (@laaradashti), France. "Mashmul"
In 2022, a twenty-seven-year-old soldier was executed in Rasht, Iran, after being condemned for the murder of a head officer who had opposed his request for exemption from military service.
Up to twenty-four months of military service is compulsory for Iranian men aged 18-40. There are limited exemptions, but not for conscientious objection. Those men are called mashmul (مشمول), meaning liable to conscription. Until he has completed his military duties, an Iranian man is not allowed a valid passport and cannot leave the country unless granted permission. He is not allowed to register official documents to purchase a car or a home, get a housing loan from a bank, receive a government pension, or work for the government.
Many refuse to enroll because of the ideology this system represents, the freedom it takes from them, and the work conditions they face. Some take great risks and act illegally to dodge military service.
Some fail or give up and enroll to regain their freedom and build a future. Others are considered deserters, exposing themselves to criminal prosecutions, and remain unable to leave Iran.
While the subjects of this work keep their visage hidden, they are surrounded every day by the faces of dead soldiers. It is impossible to walk outside and not see them. By producing these images nationwide, the Islamic Republic has created an ideological system that prospers on glorifying martyrdom.
In this series, the anonymous portraits are contrasted with the depictions of dead soldiers erected all over the country. The images that manipulate are confronted with the ones that tell personal realities.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Just in. Helsinki Photo News - the magazine magnifying photography is out. 68 pages covering over 50 breathtaking courageous photographers including David Lynch. Will be released today in Paris 🇫🇷. Next week in Helsinki 🇫🇮
We will be around @parisphotofair, @polycopies, @parisphotodays, @polkagalerie and many more places celebrating photography until Saturday night.
You wanna meet, pm us on insta.
Cover Photo by @lys_arango
#helphoto #helsinkiphotofestival #nordicvillage #helsinkiphotonews #finland #france
Winner Open Call Nordic Village. Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Aija Svensson (@aijasvensson), Finland. "Do Not Cover"
There are devastating secrets inherited and passed down through generations, buried deep within our emotional memory, that we cannot or choose not to remember. When kept in the shadows, these secrets lay the foundation for a precarious existence, leading us to accumulate our own hidden truths, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Aija Svensson`s body of work Do Not Cover illuminates the multiple layers of traumatic experiences, straddling the boundaries between past and present, and shifting perspectives from adult to child. The photographic series, featured in his photography book of the same title, weaves together a patchwork of memories both veiled and revealed.
This evocative collection comprises portraits, documentary images, archival material, and symbolic visuals hinting at elusive memories that remain uncaptured. Photographs taken on her mother`s deathbed become the catalyst for reconnecting with a past shrouded in unanswered questions and unresolved actions.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Nordic Village. Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Sofi Lundin (@sofi_lundin), Sweden. "The “Iron Lady” from Somalia"
Kamilla Yussuf Abdi, aged 25, has worked as a Case Manager for Save the Children, a child protection services agency in the refugee camps in Somalia.
Kamilla`s father died during the civil war and her mother became the sole breadwinner. Kamilla was sent to an aunt in Kenya who supported 9 other children; growing up around these strong single mothers shaped her into the tenacious and courageous person she is today. In school, she became a mentor supporting other young girls and was soon nick-named, «Iron Lady».
After completing school, Kamilla returned to her home country: Somalia with a mission - to help young girls fight for their rights. Kamilla has traveled around Baidoa and worked there, identifying children needing protection and giving courage to young women to stand up for their rights. She has become an inspiration to many women and children.
“Girls are brought up not to say what they think. Daughters are not given priority for education and many are married off at the early age of 13; they must know that they have rights and their dignity.” says Kamilla.
In her work, she has faced many challenges brought on by hostile and violent environment; she has received a number of threats to her life.
“I have been in a number of scary situations where my life has been in danger, but I have trust in the women I work with here. The community has always been there for me and defended me…I want girls to realize that there is hope, even if you are raised in a poor family without a father.” - Kamilla.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Patrick Junker (@patrick__junker), Germany. Jonathan Terlinden (@_terlinden), Finland. "The Border Zone"
The Border Zone is a photo essay about the Russian border in Northern Europe. It shows historical places and how people live there today.
The Red Army invaded Finland in November 1939, and a few months later, in April 1940, the Germans invaded Norway. During the Winter War, Finland defended itself and negotiated an armistice. Then, in World War II in 1941, they fought with the Germans against the Soviet Union. After the Germans lost the war and the Red Army liberated Norway, Finland had to cede territory to the Soviet Union.
These events changed the course of history. While Norway was a founding member of NATO, Finland tried to remain neutral. This ended with Russia`s war of aggression in Ukraine and its entry into NATO.
People living along the Russian border have come to terms with their large neighbor. Sometimes it is shoals of fish migrating between Russian and Norwegian waters or bears coming out of hibernation. Most of all, it is the people and friendships that have developed since the fall of the Soviet Union and the economic cooperation that is essential for survival in the sparsely populated regions of the Far North. All of this has already been put on hold or is in danger of collapsing. Patrick Junker and Jonathan Terlinden traveled through Finland and Norway looking for small stories to understand the big picture better.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Antonio Pérez, Spain. "The Sea Moves Us, The Sea Moves"
Fuvemeh, Ghana, a fishing village located between the Atlantic Ocean and the mouth of the Volta River has disappeared. It no longer exists, not even on Google Maps, and only exists in the memory of those who lived there.
The coastal erosion and the rise of the oceans, a direct consequence of global warming, have gradually disappeared coastal communities along the countries of West Africa. With the well-known migratory movement, a total of thirteen countries and nearly ten thousand kilometers of coast are disappearing. Fuvemeh is a clear example of this.
Years ago the inhabitants of this village saw their lands, houses, and “lives” disappear with each rise of the high tide.
The defenses, barriers and breakwaters, built by cooperation projects, have also been swallowed up by the sea.
The inhabitants of Fuvemeh, who can, have fled to other houses, villages, and countries. A few hundred meters above the shore, they wait and wish that the sea does not return, because for many of them, it is the fourth time they’ve changed.
Sometimes, with the low tide, they return to their houses to what is left of it: walls; windows; the threshold of a door. Sometimes there is nothing.
An empty physical space they fill with their memories. These double photographs are taken in those moments.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #sanomatalo #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Sarah Mei Herman (@sarahmeiherman), Netherlands. "Solace"
In response to Sara Mei Herman’s ongoing project Touch, which started during an artist-in-residence at the Chinese European Art Center in Xiamen, China, she was approached by Jurek Wajdowicz, artist and Director of Graphic Design studio Emerson & Wajdowicz Studios (EWS), to produce an extensive photography project about the LGBTQ community in China.
In September 2019, Herman traveled to Xiamen. She portrayed fourteen young queer people (couples and singles). Apart from the photographs taken of the subjects and their personal surroundings, she also interviewed them about their life, love, and personal fears.
Because of the pandemic, Herman was unable to return to Xiamen. Two years after her trip to Xiamen, she decided to continue the project in the Netherlands, Germany, and Paris, photographing young Chinese people from the LGBTQ communities there. In total, she portrayed thirty-one people.
By the turn of the last millennium, same-sex relationships were once again legal, and by 2001, homosexuality had been declassified as a mental disorder. But the stigma against queer people still remains. Recent reports from China have noted government attempts to clamp down on LGBTQ media and events, and family members are still sending numerous citizens to conversion therapy.
Hardly any of the young people Herman photographed for this project can speak openly to their parents about their sexual preference or gender identity.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Karianne Bueno (@kariannebueno), Netherlands. "La Cigale et la Fourmi"
About fifteen years ago, in her late twenties, Karianne’s cousin E. chose to live her life as free as possible. She is a shepherd in the French mountains for most of the year and spends the rest of her time riding her horses or driving her camper van towards the sun.
E. and Karianne are the same age. As kids, they saw each other only once a year and didn’t understand each other’s mother tongue, but Karianne always felt they met on some kind of soul-level. Like E., she has always had the feeling that modern western society doesn’t fit her – its emphasis on materialism and self-realization, its shallowness in social manners, its pressure on ever more, ever better.
Her cousin is like a mirror to her. They are alike, but worlds apart. While E. decided to step out, Karianne stayed. She still doesn`t really fit in – as an artist and mother, she feels she has to constantly defend her choices, to both the art world and the society of ‘working people’.
What does freedom really mean – as a concept, as something we all seem to aspire? After a couple of years of reading, thinking and looking closely at her cousin, Karianne begins to wonder if it even exists. La Cigale et la Fourmi, which lends its title from a famous fable by Jean LaFontaine about a singing grasshopper and a hard-working ant, is an ongoing long-term photography/text project containing a vortex of ideas. It is about the metaphorical place where our personal lives and western society collide, about commitment, feasibility and the human need to be seen in a world that continuously seems to move away from us.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call - Helsinki Photo Festival 2023 - Nordic Village. Theme: Courage.
Haakon Sand (@_haakonsand), Norway. "Fighting to Keep Hope"
Haakon Sand sheds light on S.M.A.R.T. Romania, an acronym for “Anti-poverty, Multifunctional Services for Reintegration and Transformation”. The project aims to enhance the quality of life for at least 1,600 impoverished and marginalized individuals, providing them with access to vital social services. Within this group, 1,050 people are homeless, encompassing both adults and children.
The Salvation Army`s mobile clinic plays a crucial role in this endeavour, stationed in one of Bucharest`s slums. As the team opens the car doors, they are greeted by a cold, dark environment, permeated with the smell of fuel and waste. The factory buildings that serve as homes for many emit the intensified sound of barking dogs. Inside, the air is humid and musty, with makeshift electrical solutions posing a fire hazard.
The team, consisting of a medical doctor, two social workers, a driver, and a Salvation Army division leader, visits such places three times a week, extending much-needed medical care, food, and healthcare check-ups to those living in similar buildings or on the streets.
Financed by the European Economic Area (EEA) and Norway Grants, the mobile clinic project operated from 2014 to 2017, followed by a second phase from 2019 to 2022. Now, after the project period`s conclusion in December 2022, the goal is for it to become self-sustaining. The Salvation Army in Romania continues its efforts, making small strides forward, and seeks continued support to ensure the project`s enduring success.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #sanomatalo #norwegianphotographer #hanaholmen #artexhibition #contemporaryart #nordicvillage #helsinki #finland #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #konst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Thomas Victor (@thomasvictor__), Germany. "Utopia Clearing"
Since 2020, the hamlet of Lützerath, on the edge of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine, has been occupied by climate activists. Within two years, it became a place of utopia for climate justice and equality. It was a think tank for the climate movement that couldn’t be replicated.
Underneath the site lay several million tons of coal the energy company RWE wanted to mine. Studies showed by climate activists that the coal under Lützerath was no longer needed. The studies commissioned by the government and the energy company showed the opposite. Lützerath became a symbol for the climate movement and its fight against the use of fossil fuels.
After heated political debates about the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the hamlet, the eviction began in January 2023. Thousands of activists tried to defend it against the police and the interests of the RWE. The resistance had no chance against the organized superiority of the police.
Thomas Victor’s story is about those last days. It is about an almost non-violent resistance and an overpowering police force that evacuated, without compromise, in the interest of an energy company.
The work was produced on an assignment for ZEIT online.
Thomas Victor (b.1983) is a documentary photographer based in Leipzig, Germany. He studied photojournalism and documentary photography in Hamburg, Berlin, and Hanover. His work has been published in national and international media and has been exhibited several times. Thomas focuses on stories about social and ecological changes.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #sanomatalo #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #documentary #helsinki #germanphotographer #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #konst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Catherine Lemblé (@catherine.lemble), Belgium. "Only Barely Still "
The ongoing project Only Barely Still brings together analog images and handwritten letters by women living in the arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.
The Arctic was never considered a proper place for women. Throughout history, women have been deemed unfit to deal with the challenges of autonomous life in the public realm, let alone with the dangers of the isolated wilderness. Non-indigenous people to the Arctic have long conceptualized the polar region as a barren, inhospitable landscape where only the toughest men could survive. Built into this affirmation of the adventurous and engineering nature of men is the systematic refusal of women into the Arctic world. This frame of mind is also reflected in the body of stories and literature set in the circumpolar region: women are mostly absent, and if they do happen to make an appearance, they are classified as man’s inferior companion, as an exception, or as not in their right mind.
At the same time, the Arctic has traditionally been gendered as feminine in the Western world. Initially, it was regarded as a region to be conquered and penetrated, as a male territory that had to be brought into submission. Whereas this view has shifted in post-colonial times, the Arctic is still considered feminine and now collectively imagined as a pure, pristine place needing our protection—a barren, virgin land in distress. By imposing on it a passive identity as an object of desire, this one-sided and simplified view is not aligned with reality. The project Only Barely Still aims to propose a different narrative of the Arctic and its collective imagery. By standing on the axis of two misconceptions – about the Arctic on one hand and the women in it on the other – it wants to capture their synergy respectfully.
Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #sanomatalo #helsinki #spitsbergen #norway
Winner Open Call - Helsinki Photo Festival 2023 - Nordic Village. Theme: Courage.
Maija Bondar (@maijabondar), Finland. "Who is this? It`s me"
What is national identity? Maija Bondar never seriously thought about it. In Finland, they ask "Mistä olet kotoisin?" which literally means "Where are you from?". She`s never been asked, "Who are you?" Maija always answered that she was from Russia, which is logical since she lived there for 17 years before moving to Finland.
Maija was born in Ukraine. At the age of 8, her parents decided to move to Russia when it was still part of the Soviet Union. Every year, they would visit Ukraine for the holidays, where her grandparents lived in a village. Though her grandparents are no longer alive, all her relatives still reside there.
On February 24 in 2022, the war began not only all over the world but also inside Maija. It was very difficult for her to understand her feelings. On one hand, there was fear for her relatives in Ukraine - two of her brothers fought there. On the other hand, she tried to understand her friends living in Russia and find excuses for their silence. None of them have expressed opposition to the war.
The more Maija heard that Ukraine was not considered a state at all, that all its cities needed to be razed to the ground, and that Ukrainians were labelled as Nazis, the stronger childhood memories overwhelmed her.
Feelings, smells, people, and the streets through which she could walk with her eyes closed - all these thoughts constantly occupied her mind. Maija returns to her childhood as if starting from it, and in this way, she reconstructs her identity and self-awareness anew.
Now she realizes that external circumstances can push a person of any age to rethink the role of ethnicity in their life and lead to the transformation of national identity. This foundation is essential to resist external pressure, and courage becomes indispensable.
Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #nordicvillage #helsinki #finland
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Ernst Coppejans (@ernstcoppejans), Netherlands. "Intersex - 1 IN 90"
While we are getting more and more used to people who do not fit into boxes, a large group of people still live with a secret: they were born with a body that does not meet the normative definition of male or female as used by society. This occurs in about 1 in 90 people.
For years, the official policy on intersex was to keep it secret and possibly correct it surgically and/or hormonally. In the meantime, there is slowly more openness about intersex, the medical practice is also under pressure. But the idea that it is better to grow up as a boy or a girl and that medical intervention may be desirable is still prevalent.
Intersex children continue to undergo unnecessary medical treatments without their consent to fit better within the box of `male’ or ‘female’. The UN, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament consider this a violation of the (human) rights of the child and advocate a legal ban on these operations. The Netherlands often lead the way when it comes to LGBTI emancipation, the letter “I” was added in 2017 - but in the field of intersex this does not apply. As a result, intersex people often live `in the closet`. Studies show that living with a secret causes psychological problems and that early medical intervention can be traumatic. Intersex people on average have a lower income, lower education and a higher risk of depression and suicide.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #sanomatalo #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst
Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Elisa Mariotti (@aelisamariotti), Italy. "A Letter from Home"
Therapeutic communities (TCs) for addictions, methadone-maintenance therapy, or detox programs are examples of answers to drug addiction. Therapeutic communities aim for reintegration into society through a drug-free life.
Overall, around 2500 facilities using TC-type interventions were identified in 2011 across Europe, of which 708 were in Italy.
San Patrignano is an Italian long-term drug-recovery residential community considered among the largest and most successful worldwide. Twenty-six thousand people have been hosted since 1978. That’s more than four thousand years of prison converted to rehabilitation programs in twenty-five years.
“Ours, if we really need a definition, is a community against social marginalization,” Vincenzo Muccioli, the founder, said.
These photos are part of an ongoing project started in 2021 on the personal, didactic, and rehabilitative journey of the residents. Since 2021, Elisa Mariotti has spent, on average, two days per month with the residents who work in the kennels, one of the thirty-five activities in the community. At every moment, they face their own limits, fears, fragility, and the need to mediate between their needs and those of other community members.
The "senior" residents, nearing the end of their journey, try to help the "young" ones recognize the mechanisms of addiction and escape the cage of negative habits. The sharing of emotions is key.
It is a hard, deep, and long fight with no predictable ending. No distractions are permitted. Only energy and time are necessary to rebuild hope for the future.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
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Winner Open Call Helsinki Photo Festival 2023. Theme: Courage.
Alan Gignoux (@gignouxphotos), USA. "You Can See Me, But I Do Not Exist"
The title of this body of work contains a quotation from an eighteen-year-old Afghan boy seeking asylum in Sweden: “You can see me, but I don’t exist.” He was awaiting the response to his third and final appeal for permission to remain in the country and was expressing frustration at his unresolved status. To him, living outside the Swedish social “system” was equivalent to not existing. He was evidently present and visible in the physical world. However, without a “person number,” the numeric ID given to every resident and citizen of Sweden, he was denied access to the services essential to participating in society.
The Afghan boy’s words highlight the frustrations of living in “limbo” as an asylum seeker. We have all experienced limbo at one time or another. It is usually associated with a period of uncertainty during which we cannot move forward with our lives until someone, somewhere, makes a decision. “Will I get onto that course? Will the bank approve my loan? Will my operation proceed?” We are familiar with the emotions accompanying limbo situations, such as anxiety, frustration, helplessness, anger, or resignation.
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Helsinki Photo Festival (#HelPhoto) is an annual event showcasing international photography in the Greater Helsinki area. More info on artists, exhibitions and events: www.helsinkiphotofestival.com
#helsinkiphotofestival #helphoto23 #courage #photography #photographers #sanomatalo #photographyexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #fineartphotography #photooftheday #helsinki #helsinkiart #visithelsinki #taide #valokuvaus #valokuvataide #kunst