Kranj Foto Fest starts today in Slovenia. We are super proud to be part of it with our New Ghosts photos.❤️
Later this autumn New Ghosts will be exhibited at the Latvian Museum of Photography in Riga.
More exhibition news & other good stuff soon.
Peace & Love, Aki & Astrid
⭐️
We love the magical light summer nights here in Finland. That’s why we wanted to turn them even more magical.
We are celebrating momentariness with a series of screenings with our latest video work: LAST SONG. Screening performances take place at late night in carefully selected, but totally random locations all around Finland and without any notice in advance.
We are looking forward to meet, serve and celebrate with people we’ve never meet before. (And let’s see, maybe we will even meet somebody we already know 😊) These screening performances are always dedicated to all of you whose path crosses ours totally accidentally. Let’s celebrate those magical moments and encounters. Let’s celebrate wonderful summer nights. Let’s celebrate life.
❤️ Aki & Astrid
AKI & ASTRID SINIKOSKI: NEW GHOSTS
TURKU KUNSTHALLE / TURUN TAIDEHALLI 11.6–11.7.2021
New Ghosts at Turku Kunsthalle is open until 11 July 2021. Please, notice that if you are living in Finland you only have two weeks before it’s our time to say goodbye to Finland.
New Ghosts photos have now been exhibited in Helsinki, Turku, Oulu, Tampere, Jyväskylä, and Inari – so now we are heading back on the road for exhibitions abroad. More news soon. 😊
Take care ❤️⭐️🙏
Aki & Astrid
Small interview by: KulttuuriKauppila
Aki-Pekka Sinikoski is a Helsinki-based photographer and author whose best-known works include Finnish Teens (2011), Last Machos (2016), I Love Dogs (2020) and New Ghosts (2011–2058). Sinikoski often describes his artistic photo production methods as lengthy and time consuming. According to Sinikoski this is because of the exceptional scope of the documentary series but also due to his wish to capture the passing of time. He is not looking for decisive moments but rather the stagnant feeling just after these moments.
Sinikoski has graduated as Master of Art from the Department of Media at Aalto University, Finland. His major subject is from the Aalto University’s Institution of Photography. His work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions both in Finland and abroad, and his work has been published by e.g. The Guardian and Vogue Italia.
Change and identity are reoccurring themes in Sinikoski’s work. He works in multiple different mediums, and the medium selects itself through the aim and content of the project at hand.
‘’I love both words and photographs. One of the biggest differences between the two mediums is the way that they are perceived by the observer. In a text the story is formed a word and a sentence at a time, and what is said in the next sentence does not exist until it is read. Photograph on the other hand reveals immediately some sort of general view, which gets more detailed the longer you spend observing the photo. Photograph also has always a somewhat strong relationship to reality,’’ Sinikoski explains.
This residency period was Sinikoski’s third time working in Ii. His previous visits were in 2015 and 2016.
‘’I feel very comfortable here in Ii and KulttuuriKauppila, it’s a good place to be. In the mornings the neighbour’s rooster greets me when it hears my footsteps approaching. Life is calm and simple, but at the same time I feel that the place is almost magical. Few nights ago I finished writing late at night, and went out for a stroll. By coincidence I ended up jamming with local musicians in the neighbourhood, who I met during my previous residency period in Ii. In between the jamming we went outside to just talk and admire the magical Northern Lights illuminating the sky above us. It was an unforgettable night that just happened, without any plan.’’
During his residency period in Ii, Sinikoski worked on a sound installation, his photographs and two different book projects.
‘’The first book project is continuation to my children’s book ‘Under the Moon‘ (Kuun valossa / Under månen)which was published last year. The other book is related to the ‘New Ghost’ photography series, which I have been working on with my daughter Astrid since 2011. The series has been shot around the world, including here in Ii in 2016 when I was here in a residency together with my daughter. KulttuuriKauppila has become a dear place to me, where I have found both like-minded people as well as the peace and quiet to listen to myself. During my residencies I have managed to get a lot of work done, but at the same time also take my artistic work forward, even to new directions.’’
The residency period was supported by Svenska Kulturfonden. Photos by: Aki-Pekka Sinikoski
I Love Dogs at VB Photo Centre, 4.12.2020–28.2.2021.
Why have I photographed Finnish men whose identities include pup play?
After my best friend died the people around me reacted in different ways to our common loss. The coping of this sudden and unwanted reminder of how limited also our own lives are, took different shapes for all of us. For one of my friends these existential questions strengthened the idea of not only being a father, but also a dog.
I often photograph things I want to learn more about or get to know better. This series was born from the need to understand my friend better, because at least from my perspective, the transformation from a father with seemingly traditional values to a dog was quite big.
My friend has been incredibly brave and I’m proud and happy that he doesn’t need to hide or be ashamed of this part of his life anymore when he is with me.
Photographing this series has been a great adventure and I have learned a lot not only about people, but also dogs and myself. It is actually unbelievably relaxing to drive on the parking lot of the local supermarket with a rubber dog in the backseat that puffs to the mailman passing by. At that moment you don’t think about life or death, you just feel pure joy.”
Aki-Pekka Sinikoski, Photographer
🐩
”It has been great that Peki (Aki-Pekka) wanted to get to know this part of life which is important to me. We have been driving around Finland, talked a lot and photographed doggies in the gay scene. Many have felt that it is remarkable and important to be able to be part of this photo series and exhibition. There is still a lot of stigma connected to the fetishes and many in the gay fetish scene has needed to come out twice; first as a sexual minority person and then as a fetishist.
Fetish and BDSM lifestyle has followed me from my childhood, but the road to self-
acceptance has been long. After our common friend passed away, I realized how limited life is and how important it is to live as ourselves. It has felt liberating that I have finally been able to be my own kind of me also with Peki. The fact that I haven’t needed to hide one part of my life from him, has also deepened our friendship.”
Sam the Guardian Dog
WOW!!!! We made it!!! The photo series we have been working on with my daughter Astrid since 2011 has been selected to Photo Vogue Festival in Milan, Italy!!! VOGUE!!! I mean freaking VOGUE!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
More information can be found here: www.vogue.it
New Ghosts is now Blue Ghosts. During these extra ordinary times it’s important to protect all of us. That is why our exhibition in Jyväskylä is closed and wrapped in blue at the moment. If the situations gets better in a month, we will reopen the exhibition between April 14 and April 26.
If not, we hope to see you in Helsinki at Hippolyte Gallery in October or in the Northern Photographic Centre in Oulu at the end of the year.
Thank you for the wonderful exhibition opening in Gallery Ratamo. The atmosphere was warm and beautiful and we really could feel connected to you. Thank you for all your kind words and thank you for sharing your stories and thoughts. After the opening, it was snowing and we were so happy, grateful and full of life.
Our warm greetings go also to läänintaiteilija Marko Hämäläinen who interviewed us. –You have one of the biggest hearts in the whole wide world!
For those of you who haven’t seen the New Ghosts exhibition yet, you have the chance to see it at Gallery Ratamo in Jyväskylä until 29 March.
After Jyväskylä the following New Ghosts exhibitions in Finland will take place at
–Gallery Hippolyte in Helsinki (October 2020)
–Northern Photographic Centre in Oulu (November 2020)
More New Ghosts exhibitions outside of Finland will be published soon. See you on the road.
Stay safe. You are important!
❤️ Aki & Astrid
All the photos in this post by Emmi Minkkinen
The first New Ghosts exhibition in 2020 will take place 5.–29.3. at the beautiful Gallery Ratamo in Jyväskylä.
You are welcome to the opening 4 March at 5 pm. There will be a New Ghosts Artist Talk hosted by regional artist (läänintaiteilija) Marko Hämäläinen and we’ll stay in the gallery together with Astrid even after the official program, so I’m sure you’ll have a chance to chat with us if you feel like that. We have worked with these images since 2011 and YES, we are super proud of this exhibition, so it’ll be a pleasure to share it with you.
I will also have a photo workshop in Jyväskylä on 29 March so even if we don’t know too many people in Jyväskylä region – yet! – we hope that will change pretty soon.
Peace & Love, Aki & Astrid
I love every detail of this project I photographed for Marzi Nyman and Kaskelotti Records. It’s a fantastic album by Marzi but also a beautiful photo diary. So if you want to buy a photo book by me you can start with this one – and the music will be included ? Love & support by Hyyrysjussi, Graphic design is by Jussi Karjalainen, Photos & Photo Concept Design by me.
XOXO: Aki-Pekka Sinikoski
