MARTTI JÄMSÄPhotographs 6.8.2011 – 28.8.2011

The trademark of photographic artist Martti Jämsä has always been his black and white imagery with its lights and shadows. As a photographic artist he is also very much a craftsman, so in this age of large digital colour proofs he is as if a representative of the old school. Jämsä develops and frames his photographs himself, which allows him to determine the final result, such as the quality of the grayscale reproduction, the surfaces and how he presents his art.

In the photography on display in the upcoming exhibition, Jämsä highlights individual and highly symbolic items that convey heavily the past. He has also assembled objects that contain his photographs. In connection with the exhibition, a collection of photographs will be published under the name Löytöjä - Objets trouvés containing 16 round black and white photographs and text by Leena Kumola:

"The round format of the dark images metaphorically emphasizes a view of a different, past time. The objects in the photographs have a distinct form, standing out against the simplified darkness and distancing it from everyday reality. Light is subtly reflected from the shapes, lending delicateness of tone to them. The disparate collection of objects mirrors the randomness and plurality that is characteristic of life, of the unexpected things from which the meanings of existence are formed."

"Human memories are aroused by all kinds of perceptions. A glimpse of a star decoration from a Christmas tree or of worn household objects can make time disappear and turn into something else. It can restore for a moment strands of long-forgotten moments that seemed everlasting at the time. The same is true of dreams and fantasies. Their echoes, lost and forgotten in time, may unexpectedly flicker in symbols that are familiar to all of us."[i]

Rauli Heino