In the wet and cold countryside of the far north reside hardy people with stories to tell. Ambling across the verdant pastures, clad in the plants of the region, senior citizens model in the wilderness of south and eastern Finland. In our modern, often youth-centered world, the photographs are a beautiful and arresting look at unique and interesting characters in strange circumstances.
The project, called Eyes as Big as Plates, started off as a play on characters and protagonists from Norwegian folklore, but for Norwegian photographers Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen the series has become something more about, as they put it, “exploring the mental landscape of their neighborly and pragmatic Finns.”
The models in the photographs are captivating, not only for the strange organic headwear or clothing they wear in the photographs, but equally for the character they project through the images. Who are these quirky and fascinating people who trek across the cold wilderness, willing to don strange clothes and convey so much through their expressive eyes? What stories do they tell when not behind the lens? In a sense, the mystery behind the people in the images transforms them back into the folkloric images they were originally intended to be.
You can find out more by exploring the websites of both Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen or their new Eyes as Big as Plates site. For a more intimate encounter, attend their show, running February 15 – April 26, 2013 at Recess in Red Hook in New York.