HIPPOLYTE STUDIO
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi/studio
Open: Tue-Fri 12:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00Maija Holma
Brevis Lux
6.3.–29.3. 2009
The themes of my exhibition are daylight, artificial light and love. Some of the pictures are lit by daylight coming from outside, some by lamps on the walls.
The show consists of two series. One documents a line from Catullus written in white stones along the shore of a fjord: "nobis cum semel occidit brevis lux" ("when our brief light has set"). In the other series I have portrayed friends and colleagues at work, taking a rest, feeding their kids or writing grant applications. I usually take pictures wherever life chooses to lead me, and most recently it seems to have led me to people. In compiling this series, I have tried to trace the love people have for their work and for each other, and what I myself feel towards them.
When photographers work, they are often asked: Is there enough light? Usually there is; all you have to do is to take slightly longer exposures. When the sun has set, lamps are lit. I want to concentrate on the finiteness of light so that I would remember to appreciate it.
My work is a kind of interpretation of the life I lead. I take photos in places where I find myself in any case, I do not seek out any settings or set aside time for taking photos. I have photographed "accidental cultural landscapes", places where the built environment meets nature, traces of human presence, crumbling matter and faded textiles people use to decorate their dwellings. I have recently discovered how important it is for me to work in a group, and this has led me to start taking photos of people. I photograph them wherever I meet them, most often at work or on the move.
In addition to standard colour and monochromatic prints, I also sometimes print my pictures on found pieces of material, such as plastic, plywood, concrete or tin. These pieces are all cultural products, but they are no longer recognisable objects. Together with the printed photo, their distinctive character becomes part of the finished work.
Maija Holma
Maija Holma (b. 1971, Jyväskylä, Finland) graduated in 1994 from the Department of Photography at the Institute of Design at Lahti Polytechnic. She has worked as photographer for the Alvar Aalto Museum since 1995, and since 2004 she has been studying at the University of Jyväskylä, majoring in philosophy. Holma's solo exhibitions include shows in the Museum of Central Finland (1995 and 2006), in Gallery AMA in Turku (2006) and in La Galeria in Barcelona (2006), and she has also participated in group exhibitions in Finland and abroad.
© Maija Holma, 2006The exhibition has received funding from the The Arts Council of Central Finland.
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More information:
Marja Kosunen, Hippolyte Studio, +358 9 612 33 44, info[at]hippolyte.fi
