My father once told me that my world is like a black and white image, but I guess my heart has found it ́s own colours.
I began my Just Small Hiccups story after I moved back to my childhood home with my own family. I photographed the feelings that arose in the house full of memories, with it ́s garden and the nearby forest. This photographic story is a poem, made from a deeply personal point of view, however portraying the universal feelings to understand life. With the pictures and texts, it addresses growing up, how we see ourselves and each other in a family.
About Anni Hanén
Anni Hanén was born in Lahti, Finland in 1981. She received her BA (2010) and MA (2013) from Aalto University, School of Art, Design and Architecture, Department of Media from Photography. After graduating she has worked with personal long-term series “Just Small Hiccups” and “Trace”. She has created her first photo book from the series Just Small Hiccups, published by Kehrer Verlag. Hanén has influence on fine art photography field in Finland being member of the board (2017-) at Union of Artist Photographers in Finland. From 2014 she has been teaching and keeping workshops in visual arts and photography in Helsinki area, inter alia in the Finnish Museum of Photography. Since 2004 she has participated in solo and group exhibitions and has received various grants. Hanén lives and works in Helsinki.
Hanén ́s works are visual poems, made from deeply personal point of view, however portraying the universal feelings to understand live. Her starting points are often daily notes, but it is power of imagination that matters. Her aim is to create own language to each of her stories.
Hanén ́s first monograph “Just Small Hiccups” was published fall 2016, by the world’s leading publishers of photo books, Kehrer Verlag. The reflections of her own childhood combined with her child ́s view creates a visual dialogue between mother and son, past and present. This language they create together in this series expresses emotions, remembrance and memories.
In Hanén ́s new project “Trace” she reflects different traces of memory; those expressing emotions, places or people. With this work she uses both cyanotype and digital collage combining archive materials and staged photography to tell stories that are clearly separate from our day to day reality.
Hanén ́s works have been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Finland and in different group exhibitions in Europe. Her works have been seen also in international photography festivals, as 3rd Photo Biennial of Beijing (organized by Cafa Art Museum) and in Festival Circulation(s) in Paris. Festival Circulation(s) curator Natalie Herschdorfer chose Hanén ́s “Just Small Hiccups” work as one of the most touching projects in the festival. Her works has been chosen also as finalist in many international competitions. Hanén ́s works are frequently represented in various photography medias and blogs. [Official Website]
Home
smoke rises from the chimney
beckoning to warmth and safety
from cellar to attic
house full of hideouts
the core of the house changes
the warmth of the bedroom
transformed into my chilly office
build by my grandfather
abandoning the war for memories
items and furniture
made by measure
cabinets chest boxes
locks are always open
explored only by permission
I forget reality
stories live in me
house with a garden
woods stand sentinel
where my mother walked
paths formed
where I walked
paths got stronger
there my child plays
paths remain
if my house is my shelter
the woods are my castle
I build a nest in the castle
imagination as a friend
infinite woods
constellations guiding
searching for wisdoms of life
an unuttered permission
to hide secrets
confirmation for the same happiness
