mute spaces

The quality of space is critical for living: humans are able to adapt to a great diversity of climates, environments and, especially nowadays, even to ugliness.

The aim of this ongoing project is to show silent spaces in Helsinki made by “mute” architecture. These images introduce an alternative way of perception which is placed between photographic language (typical for built architecture), and digitally created images (typical for unbuilt architecture). This intermediate language, between reality and image, shows new ways how the city can be perceiving in a way that people notice things they didn’t before:
hopefully the city may be seen with new-critical eyes...

In around 1965, Brian Coe designed an alphabet to determine how much of each letter could be eliminated without seriously affecting legibility. Can the same approach be used in making images? How many details can be deleted from a photo without losing the sense of photorealism? This is how the technique for ‘mute spaces’ was born.

all images:
Digital C-print, 60 x 60 cm
Helsinki
(2009-2010)

Mute Spaces was exhibited at
Helsinki Design Week 2010 and
Helsinki Photography Biennial 2012