Aapo Huhta

Super sensitivity in clear process He is young, he is Nordic, he is a super talent – and he is The Young Photographer of the Year 2015. Aapo Huhta from Finland is more than proud to be the award winner and now having his first big solo exhibition just after graduating Alto University School of Design and Architecture.

Everything takes place in New York

And we at Fotografiska are equally as proud to have him here. Huhta won with the series Block, shot on colour with almost no colour, mainly sharp pictures in grey, black and white with graphic shapes, shadows and modes. Everything takes place in New York. An alienated dark place dominated by well defined alfa males doing their thing; being part of this town, busy earning and spending money in no contact with either their female side or nature. And Huhta is there to observe them, standing still for hours to find the exact right moment where everything comes together. Not planned, but captured.

I did not know how cold and melancholic I must have experienced my first time in New York. A town that then for me was claustrophobic and even a bit sinister. But after the act of photography, of what should evolve into Block, it was obviously that this was a story of me entering New York as a newcomer. A period in my life where I also really enjoyed myself, which makes it a bit bizarre because there is no trace of that in Block.

When Huhta talks about his photography its like a transformation from one phase to another. It all starts with the act of photography, which is in many ways unconscious. It is like a special kind of sensitivity that appears and makes Huhta aware of the smallest details and the biggest scales. And he knows, or rather feels, how to combine and compose them. Actually there is a tone of spiritual impact of how his objects find him, and they don’t always appear where he expected. Huhta has a great eye for unsettling places and details that makes his photography vibrant and full of messages.

Because there is this other part of the process. When the act of photography is done and its time to shape the story, in a more defined way: What was is all about, all those pictures he shot? This is where his opinions and statements turns up; this is where he makes the final body of work. Here is when it becomes a coherent body of work. Ð With some photos from the beginning of the process with Block I did not have a purpose, I was just enjoying the act of photography. But later I could see a bigger idea and create the story. This second phase is where Huhta can start to see what he actually has captured: What was his unconscious message really about? Why this or that picture? What is the mark they make? He believes that we all leave a trace, and that it is important to care about the impact of it. What trace do you yourself leave? That’s on of the question this triggering exhibition leaves us with.

Facts: Published the book Block at Kehrer Verlag 2015 Was born 1985 in Haapajärvi, Finland Lives and works in Helsinki, the Capital of Finland.