FUJIFILM STUDENT AWARDS-Arno Rafael Minkkinen

Arno Rafael Minkkinen is another photographer who uses bodies in different spaces within his work. Minkkinen uses himself as the subject, as he states that often his work is dangerous to complete, taking risks to get into the right positions for the images. He explains why he uses himself as the subject for the images. 'We control how much pain we can tolerate; such information is unknowable by anyone else. Some of my pictures might look simple, but in reality they can test the limits of what a human body is capable of or willing to risk'. No matter how difficult Minkkinen also describes how he manages to take the images, either by setting it to self timer and getting into position or using a long cable release as if he told someone else to look through the view-finder or press the shutter, they then become the photographer. I didn't fully appreciate the work of Minkkinen until I realised that this was how he produces his images. 


This is an example of Minkkinen's work, taken from his Water and Sky collection, it is titled Back like a Rock. This is a great example of the way in which he uses the body in his natural surroundings, to blend in with what is already there. Similar to Cunningham's work, the use of Black and white photography is essential in making the body appear to be something that it is not, if this image was taken in colour, the skin tone would be obvious and would stick out in the surroundings however in black and white the tone of the skin can be disguised within the image. I like how on first glance at the image, it is not clear that there is a body hidden within the landscape, however on closer inspection the curled up body can be identified. 


This is another example of Minkkinen's work, again taken from his Water and Sky collection this piece is titled Oulunjarvi Evening. This work again uses the body in a much more abstract way, even more so than the previous image. In fact if I had seen this image without previous knowledge of Minkkinen's work I would have struggled to realise that the rock in the water is a human back. This image is very beautiful in itself, regardless of the use of the body in the landscape. The angle of the camera draws the eye to the back of the image, to the line between the water and the sky, the definition of the clouds  is very clear making the image much more dramatic to view, this is then reflected in the water. 

This is an example of Minkkinen's work taken from his Snow and Ice collection, titled Kettlehole Bog. Although I respect that, technically this is a very challenging and creative piece of work, this is an example of Minkkinen's work I do not like. The body is much more obvious in this piece, it is more about fitting a body into the landscape rather than making it appear a part of it (which is what I like). One of the reasons the body becomes so obvious is the tone of it, it is much lighter than the rest of the image which draws the eye to that part. 

I have taken inspiration from Minkkinen's work in the way in which he uses the body to make an abstract part of the landscape. As I have said I prefer his work where it isn't so obvious that there is a body within the image, this is something to think about when producing my images. It is also interesting that he uses himself in  the images, it may be that if I can't find a willing subject I will have to use myself as a subject for the images.