Istanbul mix

I haven't been posting in a long time and now I'm living in Helsinki, but here's a random mix of photos that I took in Istanbul during the spring. More and less abstract stuff, all happily mixed together. Istanbul was such an experience. I hope to go back there at some point to continue my Strangely quiet -series, yet right now Helsinki feels like the best place for me to be.

Metamorphosis part II

Here's more images from my Metamorphosis series. I only now realized how few of the images I've published, though I've had these ready since August. Sadly, I haven't been able to do any new ones since I came in Istanbul, because my scanner is in Helsinki, but that will change. In less than two weeks I'm going to Helsinki for a short visit, and that means that I can also take the scanner with me and finally continue this series in here. I'm already looking forward to that, as I have plenty of new ideas in mind. One of the things I want to try, is to create short scanography animations. In the end of this post you can see the first sketch of this idea; a simple gif animation that I made just to see how it could work.

/

(first sketch of a scanography animation)

Variations

Lately I've been very much into this process of manipulating my photos by re-shooting them with a smartphone from DSLR's back screen. Somehow I really like the digital texture that it brings out and I'm also fascinated by the possibility of distorting the perspective of the original image. I don't know yet where this is taking me, but I enjoy the process. It's nice to repeat and variate, and try move further away from the documentary aspect of photography. 

Mexico part 2.

Tässä on joitain ekstrakuvia Meksikosta. Ajattelin jo pari kuukautta sitten, että mun pitäis postata nää kuvat, mutta lopulta unohdin. Otin tolla matkalla pääasiassa aika abstrakteja kuvia. Ne oli osa Romantic in Abstraction -työpajan tehtävää, jota tein siellä reissun päällä. Tehtävä tuntui sekä helpolta, että vaikealta, mutta vaikka nämä kuvat pyrkiikin kohti abstraktia, niin huomaan, että ne myös herättää kaikesta abstraktiudestaan huolimatta voimakkaita muistoja. Muiston kuuman ja kostean ilman tunnusta iholla, tai sen aikaisen aamun kun istuin Tulumissa bussiaseman kylmällä penkillä auringon nousua odottaen, ja siinä jäätyessä ja odotellessa kirjoitin ystävälle postikortin. Postikortin joka ei todennäköisesti koskaan saavu Helsinkiin, mutta joka täytyi silti kirjoittaa. Tai muiston siitä illasta kun palasin hostelliin Meridaan hakemaan muutamia sinne unohtuneita tavaroita, ja sieltä lähtiessä respan tyyppi täytti mun laukun mangoilla. Söin ne mangot seuraavana aamuna Tulumissa - rannalla maailmaa ihmetellen ja ihastellen. 

Asioiden ja kokemusten merkitys kumuloituu aina vasta ajan kanssa. Tärkeintä on muistaa olla kiitollinen. 

/

Here's some extra photos from Mexico. I was thinking to post these already a couple of months ago, but in the end I forgot. On that trip I took mostly quite abstract photos, as that was the assignment for the Romantic in Abstraction workshop. It was both an easy and a difficult task, but even if these images are aiming towards abstract, they do also trigger strong memories in my mind. The feeling of hot and humid air on my skin. The memory of an early morning in Tulum when I sat on a cold bench at the bus station waiting for the sun to rise and, while freezing and waiting, wrote a postcard to a friend. A postcard that will probably never arrive in Helsinki, but which I still had to write. Or the evening when I went back to Merida to get some forgotten things from the hostel I had stayed in, and when leaving the guy in the reception filled my bag with mangoes. In the next morning I ate those mangoes at the beach in Tulum - wondering and admiring the world around me. 

The meaning of things and experiences always accumulates over time. The most important thing is to remember to be grateful.

Metamorphosis

Tässä on kaikista lopullisin versio kirjasta, jonka parissa oon nyt työskennelly viimeiset pari viikkoa. Printtasin sivut simppelisti koulun lasertulostimella, joten kuvien laatu ei ole mikään paras, mutta muuten oon lopputulokseen ihan tyytyväinen. Tän postauksen lopusta löytyy video, jossa selaan koko kirjan läpi.

/

Here's the most final version of a book dummy that I've been working on for the past few weeks. I printed it simply at school with a laser printer so the quality of the images is not the best, but otherwise I'm quite much satisfied. In the end of this post you can see the whole book flipped through. 

Kira Leskinen: Metamorphosis

148x210mm / 32 pages

2014

Experiments

Tein viime viikonloppuna hieman kokeiluita skannerin kanssa. Oon jo pitkään halunnut rakentaa jotain kameran eteen joten siinäkin mielessä toi oli just täydellistä. Toi oli oikeastaan jotain asetelman ja live performanssin luomisen väliltä.

Oon nyt Berliinissä pari viikkoa, mutta jatkan varmasti tän projektin parissa heti kun oon taas takaisin Helsingissä.

/

Last weekend I did some experiments with a scanner. I've been wanting to build something in front of the camera for a long time so this was just perfect. It was kind of like a mixture of creating a still life and a miniature live performance.

Now I'm in Berlin for a couple of weeks, but I'm sure I'll continued with this project as soon as I'm back in Helsinki.

Abstract Composition I (A Homage to Suprematism)

Abstract Composition II (A Homage to Suprematism)

Transitional Phase (Flow)

Transitional Phase (Ambivalent)

Transitional Phase (Rush)

Metamorphosis I / II / II

Metamorphosis (Revived)

Metamorphosis (Lopsided)