“Who said that the gods live in the heavens?
No, let me tell you once and for all:
Both the gods and the devils live in the sea.”
-Abilio Estevez-
The first thing I do when I get there is go to the shore to see if the sea is still there and what it looks like. I always stand quietly in the same spot looking at the same scenery, but it never looks the same. I have noticed that year after year I admire and photograph the same scenery but it is never entirely familiar to me. The place is the same, but the space where I stand and the scenery I look at are constantly changing. I focus on the sea, the colors, the changes of the surface and spatial observations. The Indian Ocean is another place where I can breathe – its infinity, color spectrum and unpredictability is amazing.
Time is the most significant reason for change. It affects the weather and light that make space go through a constant transformation. The constant observation of change and the desire to understand force me to stop all movement, both around me and my own movement. My aim is to depict a place and the space around it at a specific moment, as a fraction of a certain time and situation, but still as a larger part of an entity that is constantly changing. I do this by photographing and recording sounds, water, situations and events in the same place at different times and in different conditions – in calm, windy, cloudy and sunny weather. Even the smallest change in the weather alters the entire scenery.
When taking photographs, I often use a serial mode which makes it easier for me to demonstrate a change that would otherwise be difficult for the viewer to notice. Even though I have adopted a partly scientific approach to documenting the scenery, my own choices, personal experiences and preferences affect what I see and look at. I rebuild the scenery from small pieces in a very meditative manner, building a picture of pieces that did exist but creating scenery that has never existed.
Heini Nieminen
heininieminen(at)hotmail.com
+358405651203
The exhibition has been supported by the Kotka Cultural Center.
Night of Arts, Thursday 23 August, open from 12 to 9 pm.
