TWISTED TALES - ROAD TO HOPE
BY MARKUS HENTTONEN
Markus Henttonen (b. 1976 Lahti, Finland) is interested in people and the urban environment and the physical and mental relationship between these. His atmospheric photographs of landscapes and people lay somewhere between the real and imaginary and there is always deeper layers and multiple storylines to be discovered. The images are at the same time precise yet beautifully poetic. The timeless feeling combined to the surroundings that stay anonymous emphasize the narrative nature of the works. However in Henttonen ́s works the stories are only subtle suggestions and the focus is on the feeling.
And there is always this tiny hint of melancholy underneath.
Markus Henttonen graduated from Turku Arts Academy in Finland in 2002 and photography has taken him to live and travel abroad from early on. In his works he has photographed the anonymous metropolis in the series Night Time Stories and Wall and the crowded holiday beaches in one his very first works To be on View. In his recent projects Henttonen has shifted deeper into emotions and narratives, with the eerie and dark Silent Night and the newest Twisted Tales –Road to Hope a journey through landscape, time, and emotions.
Henttonen ́s works have been exhibited extensively in solo- and group exhibitions as well as international biennials, photo festivals and art fairs. He has released two books, Paral-lel City (2004) and Lonely but not Alone (2011) in Finland and the third one Twisted Tales –Road to Hope will be released worldwide in September 2015 via Hatje Cantz. Markus Henttonen ́s works can be found in several public collections such as the Italian Museum Su Palatu as well as all the major museums in Finland including Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum and Art Museums in Jyväskylä, Kotka and Lahti.
synopsis
The new series from Finnish photographer Markus Henttonen is a complex journey through landscape, time and emotions. Twisted Tales –Road to Hope consists of precise and yet beautifully poetic portraits, narrative actions and landscapes. This conscious randomness of the photographs create the feeling of a lifelong road trip taking forward through events, emotions and encounters. Twisted Tales strongly balances between the thin interface of real and imaginary. And everything seems so familiar yet there is something strange.
During his years in photography Markus Henttonen ́s style has grown recognizable with expression being simultaneously intense and delicate. As a visual storyteller he has shifted from documentary approach deeper into narratives. But the stories in his photographs are only suggestions and the focus is on emotions. It is like he is subtly guiding the viewer to feel and interpret. Henttonen ́s undertone of wistful melancholy is present throughout the series in the landscape and peoples ́ gestures but at the same time there is this distinct feeling of hope.
Twisted Tales is like life, a unique and exciting travel with joy and sadness of desire and despair combining the most personal with things common. Memories, dreams and reality mix up to profound layers. Despite the flashbacks from the past and the unexpected turns this journey is going forward. It almost feels like a puzzle that will never really be complete. There will always be something little out of place, a little bit twisted.
See more about this photographer here.