HIPPOLYTE STUDIO
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki
09 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi/studio
Open: Tue-Fri 12-17, Sat-Sun 12-16
8-31 January 2010Joonas Westerlund
ONLY THE BLIND BELIEVE IN STORIES
"To be perfectly honest, I must admit it has been nearly two years since the last time I went out to shoot pictures.I mean, to wander around and take photos of whatever I happened to come across.
At first I thought, is it possible?Two whole years.Well, there was one exception – my nature photography excursion to the only place where nature is under total control: a museum.It seemed very stupid, even as an idea.The museum, I mean.
All the photos I took in the course of those five years I was wandering aimlessly here and there, when the streets of Helsinki still seemed mysterious and inviting to me, it all needed some structure.I know for certain there are pearls among the rubbish.No need even to say it, blushing.Lying around loose in a drawer they are just a nuisance.Some time ago, I thought I might rid myself of the nuisance by turning them into an exhibition.Perhaps I might even feel once again the seduction of the streets of Helsinki...
But I do doubt it.Today."Joonas Westerlund
The photos of Joonas Westerlund illustrate a dialogue between two people. At least that is what he wants us to think. He wants to create the illusion that his photos are illustrations of text and have therefore been made after and for the text. The heroes of his story talk about everything under the sun: life, death, love, the past and the future. It is the future that lends a connecting thread to the story. In fact, the central role the story plays in his exhibition has led Westerlund to reflect upon the relationship between the story, the text and the picture. If pictures give rise to stories, and people tell stories, might it not be the case that blind people are the only ones who believe in them, he wonders. This chain of ideas is the origin of the title of his exhibition, Only the Blind Believe in Stories.
Joonas Westerlund was born in Vantaa, Finland, on Friday the 13th, two quarters of an hour before Valentine's Day in 1981. He graduated from the photography programme at Västra Nylands Folkhögskola in 2003. He has exhibited his work in the gallery of the Helsinki Camera Club and in the Mom, what's architecture? gallery in Helsinki. Westerlund has worked in an architectural office and as a spoon maker. He is particularly fond of stories.
Information and press images:
Heli Luoma, Hippolyte Studio, +358 9 612 33 44, info[at]hippolyte.fi
