Outdoor Photography

© Petri Juntunen

© Petri Juntunen

February 2018 Outdoor Photography 11

EDITED BY ANNA BONITA EVANS

Routine of a Broken Machine © Petri Juntunen

Self in Exile © Petri Juntunen

FIVE MINUTES WITH...PETRI JUNTUNEN

For most photographers light is key to creating compelling pictures but Petri Juntunen embraces the opposite, making darkness

the centre point of his imagery. We talk to the Finnish landscape photographer about his latest book ‘At the Heart of it All’.

OP: Many of the images in this book were

taken at night or in very low light conditions.

Has your home country Finland - a place of

extreme darkness at certain times of the

year - played a part in this project?

PJ: Defi nitely. It’s taught me that you can have

many diff erent kinds of darkness. Sometimes

darkness can seem bott omless, where your mind

fi lls in the blanks and your eyes can make out the

hidden shapes; or it can be twilight, a time when

reality st arts to seep back into the world. Growing

up in a place where light is oft en absent has

taught me to appreciate it and use it eff ect ively.

OP: You chose a variety of subject matt er

for this project , each of which highlights

the passing of time. How did you fi nd these

unusual scenes and how important was

research to the project?

PJ: I had envisaged what I wanted to photograph

very early on but it st ill took a long time to fi nd

suitable locations, so research was central to the

series. As a st arting point I oft en looked into the

hist ory of an area and paid close att ention to its

topography and the type of vegetation that grew

there. I love planning and research, it is defi nitely

a very important part of the project for me.

OP: Philosophy is threaded throughout this

book: the introduct ory essay talks in great

depth about Martin Heidegger’s theories.

What does this academic approach bring

to the viewer’s enjoyment when looking

at your photographs?

PJ: I’ve never been interest ed in making

pict ures that are only about their visual power,

there has to be some deeper meaning. I like it

At the Heart of It All

Petri Juntunen

Hatje Cantz

978-3-7 757- 4355-

Hardback, £

BUY THE BOOK!

when photographs can be used as vehicles to

st udy a particular topic. The image has to be

st rong enough to survive on its own but good

text can give another dimension.

OP: Your work is an interest ing combination

of exploring timeless themes (like mortality

and memory) and executing the themes

with new technology (such as 3D scanning,

laser engravings and project ions). Why do

you think these opposites appeal to you?

PJ: As an artist I love traditional ways of working

but it’s important to be open to those that are

new and current. Re-interpreting timeless topics

with novel technology can show the public

something in a new way, which I fi nd very exciting.

OP: What other art forms infl uence you?

PJ: Conceptual art and sculpture have had

a big infl uence on my work. The American

sculptor Michael Heizer has been a huge

insp iration – how he works with scale and

sp ace, even negative sp ace, is something

I fi nd very interest ing. I also enjoy the work of

French American artist Louise Bougeois and

the German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer;

how they both move from painting to sculpture to

other mediums, while retaining their dist inct ive

voices, is something I fi nd most impressive.

10_11 Out there_227_ABE_SW.indd 11 18/12/2017 14: