AKI-PEKKA SINIKOSKI
(b. 1978, Porvoo)
Currently based: Helsinki
Aki-Pekka Sinikoski tunnetaan monipuolisena henkilökuvaajana, jonka kuvia on ollut esillä laajasti niin Suomessa kuin kansainvälisestikin. Hänen kuvansa ovat usein värikkäitä, koskettavia ja lempeän humoristisia. Sinikoski kuvaa itse taiteellista työskentelyään pitkäkestoiseksi ja aikaa vieväksi. Tämä johtuu paitsi pitkäjänteisestä työrytmistä myös hänen halustaan saada kuvasarjoihin näkyviin ajan kuluminen. Sinikoski kertookin olleensa parantumattoman nostalginen jo viisivuotiaana. Valokuvaajana hän ei pyri kuvaamaan ratkaisevia hetkiä vaan pikemminkin tallentamaan niiden jälkeistä pysähtyneisyyttä.
Sinikoski on opiskellut Kunstakademietissa Bergenissä ja valmistunut taiteen maisteriksi Aalto-yliopistosta. Hän on myös toiminut Helsinki Biennale -näyttelyiden järjestäjänä ja kuraattorina vuodesta 2006.
Aki-Pekka Sinikoski is known as a multi-faceted portrait photographer whose works have been exhibited both in Finland and internationally. His pictures are colorful, tenderly humourous, but touching. Sinikoski describes his artistic photo production methods as lengthy and time consuming. According to Sinikoski this is because of the exceptional scope of documentary series, but also due to his wish to capture the passing of time. As a matter of fact he admits to being already hopelessly nostalgic at the age of five. He is not looking for decisive moments but rather the stagnant feeling just after these moments.
Sinikoski has studied in Kunstakademiet at Kunsthøgskolen in Bergen, Norway and graduated with a Masters of the Arts at the Aalto University, Finland. He has also worked as an executive producer and curator of the Helsinki Biennale exhibitions since 2006.
Photo from the photo series Ghosts Watching Over Me [WORK IN PROGRESS]. Ghosts Watching Over Me is a photo series which I and my daughter Astrid have been photographing since 2013. It tells about a father’s and daughter’s relationship to each other and the fears, dreams and daydreams of both of us.
Photo from the photo series Ghosts Watching Over Me [WORK IN PROGRESS]
Photo from the photo series MJ [WORK IN PROGRESS]. “Who am I? The photograph suggests an identity for me – permanent and almost everlasting. But I’m more than that. As a photographer I am interested in the surface, identity and change. I have been shooting a series of documentary images of a young Finnish man who has dressed as Michael Jackson for years. Every day. I believe that my series deals with finding one’s own identity and the courage to follow one’s own path. At the same time the images pose the question of how much can we know about a person based only on their outward appearance. Who do people see when they look at me? Who do they see in my images?”
Photo from the photo series MJ [WORK IN PROGRESS]
Photo from the photo series Last Machos. Last Machos (2012–2016) is my photography project presenting the Finnish post-war generation. Last Machos tells about identity, change, loneliness and in a broader sense about manliness and the essence of being a Finn. This series is a continuation of the photography series entitled Finnish Teens that I photographed in 2009–2011.
Photos from the photo series Last Machos
Photo from the photo series Last Machos
Photos from the photo series Finnish Teens. Finnish Teens (2009–2011) looked at Finnish teenagers by documenting the time racing by between childhood and adulthood and the sprouting identities that can be observed in teenagers exploring who they truly are as individuals. They are pictures of eager anticipation mixed with fear; the hope that one’s wings would become strong enough and one would rediscover oneself and one’s place in the world.
Photo from the photo series Finnish Teens
Photo from the photo series Finnish Teens