Mikko Oksalahti
Ulvilantie 27 eD 21
00350 Helsinki, FINLAND
p. +358 40 596 6697
email: mikko@azila.fi

Why, How and What

There is a scene in Mika Kaurismäki's film Amazon that I especially enjoy. In this scene a Finnish man talks to an old native Brasilian somewhere in the Amazon jungles. They talk about the riches that lie on the top of a near-by mountain. The man would need to get a bulldozer up on the hilltop to collect the riches from the ground. The old native tells the man that several people have tried to get a bulldozer up there, but all have failed. The native then says: "In fact, I believe that it is impossible to get it up there." Then, after a long pause, the native continues: "But try".

This is why I photograph. Seemingly for no rational reason.

Somebody once complained to Picasso, that he doesn't understand his paintings. Picasso asked the man: "Do you like to listen to the birds singing?" The man replied: "Of course." Picasso then continued: "Do you understand them?"

This is how I make my photographs. I try not to use any particular technique or rules of composition. The same applies to making the final prints. Every photograph should be dealth with individually, making adjustments that are needed for that single image.

Eyes are the window to one's soul, they say.

Maybe my photographs are a window to my soul.