Virtual tour (in Finnish) can be found here on Youtube!

Timelessness, an exhibition by Markku Joutsen presents unique bromoil prints which have a painterly quality to them and lead the viewer into a world that is independent of time and place.

The bromoil prints have a vintage quality even though they have been made in past few years. The photographs were taken between 1993 and 2019 and prints were made in 2019 and 2020.

"This particular bromoil technique supports my way of telling stories through photographs. For years I admired pictures made by using this technique. So I learned. And I noticed that my previous photographs worked well together with this techinque and I got very excited." Markku Joutsen tells about the discovery process.

"I find myself attracted to photographs which leave room for interpretation and imagination. Timelessness and lack of a sense of a space is typical in my bromoil work. Digital has no role in my process" Joutsen continues.

Markku Joutsen uses bromoil technique which is relatively rarely used in Finland. Process begins by negative being developed on paper producing a silver gelating print which is then bleached. Ink is then applied to the image by hand, using a special brush or roller which produces and image that can be altered by using a brush. This method was fairly popular in the early decades of 20th century.

Photographer Markku Joutsen (b1963) has photographed since he was 15. He has held several exhibitions, latest of them "Unknown Peacekeeper" described the everyday life of a peacekeeper in 1990s Syria and the exhibition toured ten cities in Finland 2016-2018. ‍

Contact the artist: Markku Joutsen, puh. 040 4199479, markku.joutsen@elisanet.fi 

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