After the death of his brother in 2009, Finnish photographer Aki-Pekka Sinikoski set out to create a solo personal project photographing the teenagers of Finland. His reasoning? “Mainly so that I would not become friends with sorrow.”
In the beginning, Aki-Pekka worked without much direction or purpose. He simply shot, for quite some time, trying to concentrate on his work other than the pain in his life. However, as time went on, Aki-Pekka began to take note of the teenage images he connected with the most in the series. He soon realized that his interest lay in capturing change. With this new focus in mind, he then began to try and capture teenagers that were, “in the borderline between childhood and adulthood, and the awakening identity that can be seen in this teenagers looking for themselves.”
I believe that "Finnish Teens" is a colorful, gently humorous, but sensitive photo documentary about the lives of Finnish teenagers. The photographs’ worlds interlink and complement each other like the individuals stories in a collection of novels.I suggest that the collection of novels tells us about a life that you no longer feel is your own. It’s a story about waiting for your own wings to carry, and discovering yourself again.
You can view Aki-Pekka’s entire "Finnish Teens" on his website, www.korea.fi.
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