muotokuvaaja

THIS MORNING IS THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING


Sunrise! Time to wake up! There is a bit of snow left in Helsinki but I can feel it in the air already. Spring is finally here!  This morning is the beginning of everything. So much good stuff on its way.

BOOM! There is a major update on Korea’s website.

New interesting projects and a lot of new photos in Peki’s portfolio: Last Machos, Walkapolis, WÖYH!, Samae Koskinen, Dom kan inte se oss så länge vi är synliga, Landscapes, The Scenes, An Island… And there is even more to come. So it’s definetly time to wake up and time to take a moment for you to tune in to our new photos. This is your moment. Do not rush. Breathe.

Enjoy!

MAKING OF: WÖYH! – IKKILLYK

“The starting point was that I had several visual ideas and I needed a good photographer. I got several recommendations for Aki-Pekka Sinikoski. When I contacted him I thought that he is “just a great photographer” but in the end I got even so much more than just killer photos! Peki listened carefully to all my ideas, selected the good ones and made them great. He really understood who we are and what we do. He also recommended a perfect graphic designer for us and together they crystalized the whole visual identity to our band (and for our IKKILLYK album, promotional photos, posters, ads, merchandise…) They also designed our webpage and helped with social media, PR and other communicational stuff. Some of these ideas even turned out to be performance concepts to our forthcoming concerts; including steam punk instruments, ballerinas and other pretty avantgardish stuff.
–Brilliant, brilliant stuff done with a great passion!”

/Jussi Hyyrynen, WÖYH!

“I have been working with really interesting stuff lately, but creating a visual wonderland for Finnish band WÖYH! has definetly been one of my favorites. Both members in WÖYH! are pretty well known in Finland as musicians (Jussi Hyyrynen as a lead guitarist in YUP and Antti Hyyrynen aka Hyrde as a lead singer and guitarist in Stam1na) but for WÖYH!’s debut album IKKILLYK they decided to start their own record label Kaskelotti Records.

At the beginning of this project we had long discussions so that I would know excatly what these guys wanted and what they didn’t want: Jussi gave me basically full artistic freedom to do what ever I felt was right. All the time during the project I could strongly feel they trusted me in my vision. Jussi always listened to my thoughts carefully and replied that let’s do this, I trust you. –When I said that I needed ballerinas for these photos he told me he trusted me. Same thing when I said that we absolutely need to have an instrument that looks like Doctor Snuggles (Tohtori Sykerö) has lost his old transmitter in the world of Mad Max – he trusted me. My response to this freedom was these pretty twisted visuals that have got incredible good feedback everywhere. For example based on Nuorgam’s album review WÖYH!’s CD package is not only gorgeus but also an example on why CD as a music format should exist also in the future.

Once again I was happy to work with (yet another Jussi) graphic designer Jussi Karjalainen. There were several reasons why I asked him to be a part of this project. The first one is that he is a hell of a graphic designer. The second one is that we work at the same Super 8 Studio and with projects like this, it really gives an advantage to have several fast micro meetings during the day to share the vision and to be sure we are building the same visual world. Co-operating we are really working with each other, creating ideas, stuff, and content together to be sure that photos and graphic design are based on the consept we created.

Yep, and I can promise that there are even more of our shared visions to come! And for the all you WÖYH! fans I can promise that we are already building some new spectacular stuff.”

/Aki-Pekka Sinikoski

Check out WÖYH! website coded by Sensei Törönen himself.

The website is designed by Aki-Pekka Sinikoski and Jussi Karjalainen.

FROM DUO TO DUO

“I’m coming to the harbour. You can stop me only by drowning 5000 people”

Musta höyhen (The Black Feather) is a cutting edge crime novel written in Finland. M/s Norlandia and its crew is ordered to do an easy two weeks gig in the Middle East by bringing 1800 refugees and to ship them to Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. But as captain Sten Bremer leaves behind the masacre in Syria his ship is loaded with a chaotic crowd of 5000 refugees. Extreme right wing rises like a storm over Europe. No-one wants these people and harbour after harbour is closing their ports in front of the ship. The clock is ticking. And the dark sea is waiting…

Peki Sinikoski and Jussi Karjalainen, the award winning duo (Bada Bim Bada Bum) from Superkasi Studio, did the visual consept, photos and the graphic design for the first part of this crime novel series written by two well respected Finnish veteran novelists, Mauno Saari and Juha Numminen. The first of the Numminen & Saari books are out now and published by WSOY. Check it out! (Some embraising critics below in Finnish for all you Scandinavian crime fiction fans out there.)

…And oh YES, the client loved Peki’s and Jussi’s work so there is more to come!

Musta Höyhen

”Rikosromaani, joka on yhteiskunnallinen, poliittinen, ajankohtainen ja kansainvälinen – kaikkea tätä vetävässä paketissa.”

Heini Sivonen, Ilta-Sanomat

”Musta höyhen on kansainvälinen trilleri, toiminnantäyteinen meriromaani ja yhteiskuntakriittinen puheenvuoro. 
   (…) Trillerinä ja meriromaanina Musta höyhen toimii erittäin hyvin.”

Pertti Avola, Helsingin Sanomat

”Kirja on ajankohtainen ja siksikin koukuttava. (…) Kirjailijat kuljettavat juonta johdonmukaisesti lukijaruuvia kiristäen. Tapahtumat maissa ja merellä vuorottelevat notkeasti. Ihmisen raadollisuus rehottaa. Kirjassa on paljon hyviä ja eläviä henkilötyyppejä.”

Heikki Haapavaara, Kauppalehti

TATTIS, TACK AND THANKS!

 

Greetings from Gloria Hall in Helsinki. The Finnish Press Photographers’ Association is hosting The Picture of the Year gala here right tonight.

I’m happy to tell you that they have just chosen my picture above as the second best portrait photo taken here in Finland last year. Tattis, Tack and Thanks! This is especially good news if you think about the photo as part of of my Finnish Teens series originally published at my solo art exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Photography.

I love the idea that these weird and unnatural boundaries between different fields of photography (and communications and art in general) finally seems to be vanishing. In my eyes the most interesting stuff has always taken place in the borderlines between different worlds. If this would be my Oscar speech I would add that we all win if we can keep our eyes, minds and hearts open. But it’s not, so I will just end up my silver monologue with the quote from my 4-year-old daughter “This is only the first part of our journey, we have already started to build the space rocket.”

Cheers, Peki

CAMERA, LIGHT HOUSE, ACTION!

 

 

Good books, long walks by the sea shore, and the loved ones around you. O’boy! I always surprise myself with realizing what a good investment a long holiday is to onerself. Now I’m so entusiastic, full of energy and ready for new adventures.

Two weeks ago I was shooting photos for one of my forthcoming art project in Denmark. I was fortuned to travel there together with my family so it didn’t feel like working at all. We were playing together with my daughter on the snow covered beaches, spotting the lighthouses and really enjoying the cold winds blowing from sea and filling our lungs with fresh air and our heads with new ideas.

Even that I might sound naive I have to admit something. I really, trully love photographing. Sometimes when I’m busy with hundreds of different kind of projects, I forget to say it outloud. But here we go: I love photographing! It was crystalized to me during the holiday; finding myself standing in the ice cold water in Denmark just to capture the perfect image.

So, now I’m back in Helsinki and ready for the action. Waiting eagerly on what year 2011 will bring us. I have updated my web portfolio so please do yourself a favor and reserve a small break from everything else, grab a good cup of coffee, lift your feet on the table and enjoy the great new photos I have uploaded for you.

Cheers, Peki

P.S. A couple of months ago I was shooting an advertisement for Genelec together with the guys from Look Mama + Las Palmas in co-operation with N2. We did the advertisement with living legends Michael Monroe and Sam Yaffa. You can find the still picture for the ad in my portfolio. HERE you can find the video with the some behind the scene clips of the actual photo shooting.

EXPECT 2011 TO BE EVEN BETTER!

 

 

Peki a.k.a. Aki-Pekka Sinikoski is represented in the States by the Wonderful Machine. The people working there for him are huge fans of great photos and it has been really nice for him to be represented by the people who truly love his pictures. And guess what, the last two months of 2010 was fully booked already by the end of October so it seems that also his clients love his photos.

Year 2010 was superb for the citizens of Korea. We really managde to extend our client base. We did wonderful job with clients like The New Yorker, Veikkaus, Telia Sonera, Ruukki, Global Blue, Universal Music, Suunto, Sanoma Magazines, Aalto University and Polyvinyl Records. But of course we didn’t forget our old loyal clients either. For example during the last six months of the year Peki shooted four covers + cover stories for Suosikki, which is the biggest youth magazine in Scandinavia. It is also a client who has been using Peki’s photographic skills for more than 10 years now. That’s what we call a loyal customer relationship!

Suosikki made a cover story about juvenile delinquents trying to make their way back from the shadows to the brighter side of society. Suosikki ended up running a close up photo of one of these guys as a whole page opening photo for the story. On the cover shot the same guy was arrested by the cops. Afterwards Peki got feedback from the magazine, its readers, and even from his collegues that these were “great images with a strong emotional feeling”.

Technical qualities like good light and composition can make a good photo but if you are looking for a great one – it’s not enough. Like Mark Murrmann, photo editor at Mother Jones, puts it “What makes a great photo is an image that not only conveys some kind of information, but also works on an emotional level. It can be punch-you-in-the-gut direct, it can be more subtle, something that pulls you in slowly and allows you to wander around the image, keep coming back to it even if you aren’t sure why; it can be funny, witty, wry; it can be something that elicits a feeling of remembrance, something that reminds you of your own life; it can be horrifying, or gratifying. But it has to do something; it has to connect with the viewer.”

Most of Peki’s clients want to make their voice visual and they want their voice to be heard. They contact him because they are chasing great photos that stands out from the constantly growing flood of photographs. Even though we might sound like American TV Shop: It doesn’t matter if you don’t know what kind of photo are great for your business. It’s enough that you know that you need the great photos and you know where to get them. And hey, you should know it by now. Baby, welcome to Korea!

P.S. Peki is still shooting somewhere in Denmark, but don’t worry – he will be back next week so more truly great photos is available really soon.