Art Wednesday

Words by Alicja McCarthy

A relatively new photographer on the portraiture scene is Finnish born Nelli Palomäki.  Hugely influenced by children, her black and white photographs focus on the importance of the subject. In a digital and somewhat disposable age, in not just photography, Nelli Palomaki is bringing back the traditional portrait. The gracious family stamp, capturing tone and expressionless subjects in a very elegant yet slightly macabre way. Alicja McCarthy caught up with the super busy Nelli flitting between her studios in London and Isnäs in Finland. Here they talk, colour and story-telling and magic.

AM A lot of your recent portraiture is of children… why are they the main focus of your work?

NP I’m fascinated by children; the way they behave, communicate and how independent they are. I can’t really explain how I started to work with them, I guess there was something unknown that inspired me. Most of the children can communicate perfectly without sharing the same language (we adults somehow lost that skill), I think they are more sensitive and more aware of what’s happening around us.  They also have such potential to be anything, they haven’t been molded like we adults have.

AM Will you ever work with colour?

NP I’ve been working with black & white for so many years now, it’s difficult to imagine my portraits in colour. But at the moment I actually want to try to make some tests in color and see what happens. I had a problem with colour before, they took too much of my attention while shooting. I was too aware of the colors matching together and I lost the intensity of the moment.

AM Your portraiture is very direct… in the way that your subjects are often very composed and expressionless… will you ever go against this?

NP I could not say that I would never go against it.  But the direct way of taking the portrait feels natural for me. Maybe it is part of my personality, the way I meet people. But it is also the important part of the actual moment of taking the portrait. Us staring at each other, it leaves no place for hiding, if you know what I mean. People often have this kind of expressionless face when you don’t ask them to do anything else. People don’t smile in front of the camera if you don’t ask them to.

AM Have you ever heard of a band called Timber Timbre? Their music and your photography could marry beautifully, is film direction or cinematography something you could see yourself do in the future?

NP I haven’t heard from that band, I need to check their stuff. Music is close to my heart, but I’m not sure if I could ever work with so many people, like in the shooting of the music video etc. Photography is really lonely work, sometimes in a sad way, but it gives you a certain freedom. I’m interested in doing some videos, maybe in the future I will. At the moment I’ve been just too busy with my photography. I’m also really strict with myself, too strict to try new things, I need some more courage probably.

AM I bet you get asked this ALL the time… but what inspires your work?  Books?  Art?  Places?

NP Life inspires my work. I mean meeting people is the most amazing thing. Having great conversations with new people, learning from them. Of course for example music and movies are important, but they are more or less part of my life. And they never give me the same satisfaction as a good evening just talking with someone. Portraiture for me is storytelling, and you can’t tell stories if you never hear any I guess. Photography can be really inspiring, but I have to say that I always get most passionate with portraiture. Finding that type of feeling in landscapes, abstract work etc is truly challenging for me. For example in a bookshop I always find myself looking for portraiture.

AM You have been noted to say that you want to bring back the magic of the past… could you elaborate on this a little further?

NP  Somehow we lost that magic in photography. It is not the magic of the past that I was talking about, it was the magic of photography. For example, a hundred years ago it was something mysterious to have your portrait taken, something extremely special and magical. Now it is part of our every day life, especially through the digital cameras we can see too many images of us. I wish that this excitement could still exist, I want to believe in it. I love it when the image surprises us, it has something hidden, something to remind us from our roots. A good portrait can carry so many memories.

AM You’re based in Isnäs and London, how do you split your time and why London?

NP I live in a small village in Finland, the place called Isnäs. The most beautiful place in the countryside, truly fascinating. I moved to London this year to study and work, I also have on-going projects in Russia. Last year I won a grant to London from Hasselblad Foundation in Sweden to study at London College of Communication. It has been a big change, but I truly love it. London is an interesting city, I love it’s aggressive and dark side. It is an angry city but there’s something for everyone. Next year I will be back in Finland in the quiet countryside, it is such a big contrast. Sometimes, on a crowded tube in London I madly miss my home in Finland.

Nelli has a busy year ahead, she is currently showing at the Guernsey Photography festival [click here]
Later this month (23rd June) she will be showing with an all female group from Helsinki School at Purdy Hicks Gallery [click here]
And launching her solo show at Next Level magazine’s project space on August 4th [click here]

Nelli Palomäki website [click here]

Photo © Nelli Palomäki

Photo © Nelli Palomäki

Photo © Nelli Palomäki

Photo © Nelli Palomäki

Photo © Nelli Palomäki

Photo © Nelli Palomäki