JAAKKO HEIKKILÄPhotographs 26.5.2012 – 17.6.2012

Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #4, 2010
pigment ink print
84 x 60 cm
edition 9

Spiritual Waters

Tucked away in the furthest back room of the fifth floor of the Museum of Modern Art in New York are two Water Lilies paintings by Claude Monet.

People pass in front of the paintings. Standing. Meditating. Palms rest against cheeks. Index fingers brush the corners of eyes. I step in front of the wider painting, whistling, raising my feet casually so that it doesn´t appear as if I´m measuring. The painting is the width of about ten slightly longer than normal steps.

I´ve sat with the paintings on numerous occasions, over many years, altogether for hours. During that time, I could have read a thick novel. I last sat in the room this February.

I do not wonder at all at the artist's depth, subtlety or mastery. These aspects are also emphasised by the museum's guides, who walk crowds of people in front of the paintings. I realise that I feel good there, looking and sitting. A gentle light is reflected on the water´s surface, a depth behind the light, visible and invisible, coming close and reaching out to infinity.

Jaakko Heikkilä


Jaakko Heikkilä (b. 1956) is known as a photographer of people living in the shadow of the dominant culture. He has photographed various national minorities and their cultural identity, such as the Armenian diaspora and the Serbian Vlachs. In these works, he has gone close to the people. As a counterbalance to encounters with people, he always gravitates to water, often to the seashore. He has previously dedicated his exhibitions to, among other themes, the canals of Venice and coastal landscapes around the world. Heikkilä has received, among other awards, the Finnish State Prize for Photography in 2007. Last year, he had an extensive retrospective at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki.

 
  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2012_01

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #1, 2010
    pigment ink print
    107 x 250 cm
    edition 5

  • heikkila/2012/KutsuKuvaFixCMYKS

    Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #4, 2010
    pigment ink print
    84 x 60 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_5

    Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #5, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_6

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #6, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_7

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #7, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_8

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #8, 2010
    pigment ink print
    59,5 x 89 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2012

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #9, 2010
    pigment ink print
    59,5 x 89 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2012_03

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #3, 2010
    pigment ink print/Fotosec
    100 x 160 cm
    edition 5

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_10

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #10, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_11

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #11, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #12, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_13

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #13, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2010_14

    Fron series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #14, 2010
    pigment ink print
    89 x 59,5 cm
    edition 9

  • heikkila/2012/HEIKKILA_JAAKKO_SARJASTA_HENKEVIA_VESIA_ENSIMMAINEN_OSA_VENETSIA_2012_02

    From series Spiritual waters - part one, Venice #2, 2010
    pigment ink print/Fotosec
    114 x 250 cm
    edition 5

 
 
 
 
 
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