Built heritage is one of my favourite subjects. Quite a lot of my pictures depict humble old log houses. This is partly because of a statistical fact: log houses were by far the most common type of houses in Finland for a millennium. I also find them very fascinating. There’s a special atmosphere inherent in grey, simple and humble houses of the past.
Traditional log house differs profoundly from a modern apartment. It’s not always easy nor pleasant place to live in. Harsh Finnish winter has an unfortunate way of sneaking in during the coldest months, making morning coffee on a traditional wood burning stove has a risk of producing some quite smoky sensations if one is careless and atmosphere in the attic might turn out to be a little too exciting if one is afraid of the dark.
At the same time old log house carries a special charm. It can produce a palette of sounds when weather and seasons change. It has many kinds of odours and tactile qualities and the visual richness of old, greyed wood can be compelling. It is perceptually and experimentally diverse environment, which can enrich the everyday life in many ways: sitting by the warm fire on a cold winter’s day has a certain appeal to it, and visit to the dark attic is a stark way of experiencing the roots of humanity’s long and fine tradition of ghost stories.
I have interviewed people living in old log houses for my doctoral dissertation. Almost all of them have spoke about spirit of the place. It is a quality that is hard to define. For some people it means a sensation that the house is a living being. For others it is connected to long history of the place or warm feeling of belonging to it. It is very personal and sometimes almost spiritual experience that old house can stir up in its inhabitant. It is more or less undefined quality which makes a place deeply meaningful.
In my photography I reflect upon the spirit of the place and try to capture something of it – whether the place was made of logs, stone, clay, or twigs.
