Publisher/Hatje Cantz

Google翻訳
Breathing the Same Air is a collection of works by Finnish photographer Nelli Palomäki (1981–). Known as one of the leading figures of the Helsinki School, she has long focused on themes of growth, memory, the fluctuation of self-image, and the inevitability of death, using the classic black-and-white portrait format. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the Odrupgaard Art Museum in Denmark and the Finnish Museum of Photography, this book attempts to rekindle the magic of studio portraits through her frontal portraits of children and young people. Standing against simple backgrounds and soft light, they appear as beings who, while still largely alive, are already beginning their journey toward aging and death. Palomäki has stated, "We deny death, but photography becomes proof of our inescapable fate," capturing not only the time and anxieties of those photographed, but also her own. This book quietly preserves the weight of a moment when people breathed the same air, while also recognizing that portraits are merely "traces" of encounters. It makes us reconsider the ethics and intimacy that portrait photography can possess, as well as the relationship between photography and death.