IMAGINED LANDSCAPES – Vesa Aaltonen
The starting point of my exhibition is the Finnish landscape. My subjects exist in the space between reality and imagination, and I have sought an alternative reality of place within the Satakunta region’s landscapes. I approach my subject intuitively—my work is not always meticulously planned in advance but emerges spontaneously through experimentation.
Landscape and nature provide the framework for my work, often giving my images impressionistic qualities. I have aimed to move away from the strict realism of photography and closer to the essence of the landscape. Instead of detailed documentation, I use the camera as a brush, allowing the captured image to deviate from a direct visual representation. Likeness becomes secondary, offering freedom for interpretation.
Observation has become essential to my process—watching the landscape and tracking its changes. I strive to capture a magical spirit in my images, where light plays the central role, shaping forms and setting the desired atmosphere. There is no single “correct” light, and the decisive moment often arrives unexpectedly. Sunlight makes the forest’s green glow, yet light never stands still—it lingers briefly before moving on. Light does not wait for the photographer; one must be quick. Unlike the human eye, the camera does not select what it sees, and often, the abundance of detail in an image surpasses what our visual memory can retain. Memory is selective; in recollections, the physical place loses its significance, details fade, and what remains is the essential: light, form, and an impression of the landscape.
Artist Biography
Vesa Aaltonen (b. 1965) is a photographer and photographic artist from Turku, with deep roots in the municipality of Pomarkku in Satakunta. He graduated from the Turku School of Art and Communication in 1995 and has worked extensively in the field of photography. Aaltonen has also taught photography at the Turku Academy of Arts. He has been involved in various community photography projects, participated in numerous group exhibitions, and held solo exhibitions in Finland and Sweden since 1997. His works are included in the collections of the art museums of Turku and Helsinki. In 2018, the City of Turku’s Cultural Board awarded Aaltonen the Aboa Grant for a year of artistic work.
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