These haunting pictures will help you understand Finnish loneliness
We have arrived at the time of the year when Finns hibernate. Summer is for having fun with friends. Winter is for closing the doors and listening to your morbid thoughts. It is too dark outside to see anyone anyway so why bother trying.
For many this hibernation is self-imposed. Research shows one in ten Finns suffers from chronic loneliness. Finnish people do not consider themselves more lonely than Southern Europeans but their loneliness more often includes poverty, alcoholism and depression. Professor Nina Junttila from the University of Turku sees this as a result of weaker inter-family relationships. Relatives in Spain and Italy are very close. In Finland family bonds are weak and people seek help from friends. Those who have no friends are left out.
Photographer Mikko Lagerstedt suffered a dramatic loss when he was 20 years old. His images capture the sense of being alone in a dark, cold world. He spoke about his art and the Finnish state of mind.
Capturing the emotions of places
Lagerstedt lives in Kerava. He characterises the modern small town as a quiet and comfortable place. He avoids photographing its uniform apartment blocks and shopping complexes. He prefers the surrounding nature. The aim of his photography is to describe the emotions of places.
He wants to bring out the feeling of being surrounded by nature. He showcases the beauty and ambiance of a location through photographs. Being alone in a field with a sky full of stars is about connection and feeling.
His most haunting photos come from a series called Alone. These are mostly low-light photographs captured during the few hours of daylight.
Lagerstedt explains that the series came from his subconscious after losing his best friend at age 20.
These pics look like good loneliness to me. The kind of loneliness you miss when you’re not in Finland and there’s people all around you! Course being alone is not good for everyone…
You could have a serious problem trying to stand the silence. You would not last many hours most likely.
The “Lost World” picture is absolutely breathtaking. Would it be possible to get a higher resolution version to use as my desktop background? I don’t mind a watermark! If so, send it at rara7562 at g mail dot com :) Thanks!
awesome!
I just see some heavy photoshop+lightroom use here. Nothing special.
To be fair you still need so pretty impressive skills to make these happen. It’s not just press a button stuff is it?
Yes, it is. It’s easier than ever pressing a button. It’s some generic half-ass layers, that’s all. Nothing special. And none of these vistas look this good in reality.
But they do, I live in these scenes – apart from the Lost world -image. The snowy scenes are quite real.
PH is absolutely right. I lived in Finland for almost thirty years. I have been that person in those places.
Absolute in love with this post.
To be alone is not the same as being lonely – there is more positive energy in the former than in the latter. The pictures are awesome. :)
I agree with Ninna. I have always enjoyed and made good use of being alone. I.e. Who would want to have a crowd (or others) watching over their shoulders when in the act of creating anything that requires “focus”. Further more you SEE and HEAR a lot more of earth’s beauty when someone is not babbling in y our ear. I salute being ALONE!