Another gloomy weekday night, I was rummaging through the far corners of the Internet for some inspiration when I stumbled upon a post casually titled 'Old People Wearing Vegetation.' There was no caption or explanation, like so often on the Internet when something is reposted so many times it takes on a life of its own. But something about the images gave off a strong Nordic vibe, a subtle melancholy that as a Scandinavian I can relate to, with its fogbound marshes and sunlit meadows.
The photographic adventure is called Eyes as Big as Plates, and it is in fact a photo series of senior citizens wearing vegetation. But it's also an exploration of Nordic folklore and of modern man's place in nature, as I found out when I contacted the two photographers behind the project, RIITTA IKONEN and KAROLINE HJORTH. The name comes from a classic Hans Christian Andersen tale I remember from bedtime stories, and the subjects look almost like fairy creatures at one with the landscape, their bodies covered with moss and twigs. Yet the photographers don't treat their subjects too whimsically: the sailors and parachuters they've captured have practical, concrete relationships with nature that the images express.
Why old people? "We want to portray these individuals as active participants in our contemporary society, more than a demographic group too often labeled as marginalized or even as a stereotypical cliché," they explained in our Skype interview, perhaps slightly annoyed to be asked the question that everyone inevitably poses. "Also, with a bit of age comes charisma, lots of great stories, character, and all the good things that make us curious and eager to get to know a person." Each person they photograph is also interviewed, some of which turn into profiles published on their blog.
Riitta and Karoline, from Finland and Norway respectively, met when Riitta was searching for a collaborator for a project and Googled the phrase "Norwegian photographer grannies." Karoline's name popped up, as she had just published a book about Norwegian nanas, Mormor Monologues. Shortly after that, the two of them met at the doorstep of a 20 square meter flat they were to share for the next month, in Sandnes on the West Coast of Norway. Since, Karoline and Riitta have traveled to Finland, France, Icleand, the Faroese, and even New York. "We have found our models from sitting opposite to them at dumpling houses, indoor gardening societies, choir practices, senior centers, hardware stores, neighbors, relatives, friends," the duo explained. "It is an addictive way of working. We get to travel and experience new places and meeting fantastic strangers along the way."
The costumes for the photos are often made on the spot, lasting not much longer than the shoot itself. And all that is left behind after a full day of location scouting, material gathering, arranging, attaching, and documenting is just a small pile of sticks or leaves. These piles will soon appear in even more places: after numerous exhibitions worldwide, Karoline and Riitta are in the early stages of producing a book, which they hope to release by the end of the year. "We still haven't been to a balmy tropical place with luscious plants... at the same time, the Arctic would be fantastic too," they said. "If we could start off somewhere in the Arctic, and finish in the South American jungle, that sounds like a dream scenario."
All images courtesy of Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen
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The photographic adventure is called Eyes as Big as Plates, and it is in fact a photo series of senior citizens wearing vegetation. But it's also an exploration of Nordic folklore and of modern man's place in nature, as I found out when I contacted the two photographers behind the project, RIITTA IKONEN and KAROLINE HJORTH. The name comes from a classic Hans Christian Andersen tale I remember from bedtime stories, and the subjects look almost like fairy creatures at one with the landscape, their bodies covered with moss and twigs. Yet the photographers don't treat their subjects too whimsically: the sailors and parachuters they've captured have practical, concrete relationships with nature that the images express.
Why old people? "We want to portray these individuals as active participants in our contemporary society, more than a demographic group too often labeled as marginalized or even as a stereotypical cliché," they explained in our Skype interview, perhaps slightly annoyed to be asked the question that everyone inevitably poses. "Also, with a bit of age comes charisma, lots of great stories, character, and all the good things that make us curious and eager to get to know a person." Each person they photograph is also interviewed, some of which turn into profiles published on their blog.
Riitta and Karoline, from Finland and Norway respectively, met when Riitta was searching for a collaborator for a project and Googled the phrase "Norwegian photographer grannies." Karoline's name popped up, as she had just published a book about Norwegian nanas, Mormor Monologues. Shortly after that, the two of them met at the doorstep of a 20 square meter flat they were to share for the next month, in Sandnes on the West Coast of Norway. Since, Karoline and Riitta have traveled to Finland, France, Icleand, the Faroese, and even New York. "We have found our models from sitting opposite to them at dumpling houses, indoor gardening societies, choir practices, senior centers, hardware stores, neighbors, relatives, friends," the duo explained. "It is an addictive way of working. We get to travel and experience new places and meeting fantastic strangers along the way."
The costumes for the photos are often made on the spot, lasting not much longer than the shoot itself. And all that is left behind after a full day of location scouting, material gathering, arranging, attaching, and documenting is just a small pile of sticks or leaves. These piles will soon appear in even more places: after numerous exhibitions worldwide, Karoline and Riitta are in the early stages of producing a book, which they hope to release by the end of the year. "We still haven't been to a balmy tropical place with luscious plants... at the same time, the Arctic would be fantastic too," they said. "If we could start off somewhere in the Arctic, and finish in the South American jungle, that sounds like a dream scenario."
All images courtesy of Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen
