MARTTI JÄMSÄDance hall 1.9.2007 – 23.9.2007

Mäntsälä dance hall from series Gaze, 1980
silver gelatin print
40 x 50 cm
edition 5 + 2AP

In the early 1980s, the rock and disco scenes and Helsinki urban life in particular were topics of great interest to Finnish photographers. What makes Martti Jämsä's photographs from that time so unique is that he took them almost exclusively in the remotest dance venues and rock festivals in the Finnish countryside, where local youths partied on Saturday nights. He trained his lens not on the performers but on the audience; the teddy boys and the fans of the Finnish new wave. Young at just over twenty years old himself he felt that he and his cameras belonged - and were accepted.

The resulting series of black and white photographs and colour photo panoramas tells of the hair, fashion, language and behaviour of that time. The new exhibition contrasts them with large architectural photographs in colour taken last summer at the same, now empty, venues he once visited. These images are like stages that need people to bring out their essence. The exhibition shows how layers of meaning build up in old photographs and how, by placing them in new contexts, they can be created afresh.

Rauli Heino

 
  • jamsa/2007/Aulavan_lava_Aulava_1985

    Aulava dance hall, Alavus, 1985
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Esakallio_Somero_1982

    Esakallio dance hall, Somero, 1982
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Helsinki_1987

    Helsinki, 1987
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Vuonteensilta_Valkeakoski_1

    Vuolteensilta, Valkeakoski, 1984
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Mantsalan_lava_Mantsala

    Mäntsälä dance hall, 1988
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Kolmilammi_Hausjarvi_1983

    Kolmilammi, Hausjärvi, 1983
    C-print
    41 x 84 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Sarkan_lava

    Särkkä dance hall, 2007
    C-print
    120 x 146 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Mantsalan_lava

    Mäntsälä dance hall, 2007
    C-print
    120 x 145 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Mantsalan_lava_2

    Mäntsälä dance hall, 2007
    C-print
    120 x 146 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Jamsan_Pavi_2007

    Jämsän pavi, 2007
    C-print
    120 x 145 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Sarjasta_katse_Mantsalan_la

    Mäntsälä dance hall from series Gaze, 1980
    silver gelatin print
    40 x 50 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

  • jamsa/2007/Mikrofoni_Askisto_1988

    Askisto, 1988
    silver gelatin print
    40 x 50 cm
    edition 5 + 2AP

 
 
 
 
 
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