Remote areas of rural Finland are pretty sparsely populated to begin with, but when a large proportion of the people who do live there move to larger urban centres for work, things get really desolate. Martina Lindqvist has been out into the wilds, to places like the ones her ancestors once settled, to shoot her melancholy photographic series Neighbours. The austere houses, abandoned now to the elements, are made even more lonely by digital manipulation, with which Lindqvist removes all trace of surrounding life.
Neighbours is being shown at The Photographer’s Gallery, London, and is joined by a second series Murmurs. These works are a series of vanitas photographed against the wallpaper in her ailing grandmother’s bedroom. The elderly lady was once known for presenting herself correctly, but now, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, she can no longer remember family or friends. The forlorn flowers wilting in their vases are a commentary on the futility of keeping up appearances in the face of death. A new commission, The Absurdity of Greener Grass, rounds out Lundqvist’s show. The dates are 31 October to 4 January 2015.
Martina Lindqvist
The Absurdity of Greener Grass, 2013
© Martina Lindqvist
Image commissioned by The Crown Estate and Exemplar,
curated and managed by Modus Operandi
Martina Lindqvist
Untitled # 2 from the series Neighbours, 2013
© Martina Lindqvist
Courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery
Martina Lindqvist
Untitled # 8 from the series Murmurs, 2014
© Martina Lindqvist
Courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery
Martina Lindqvist
Untitled # 5 from the series Neighbours, 2014
© Martina Lindqvist
Courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery
Martina Lindqvist
Untitled # 5 from the series Murmurs, 2014
© Martina Lindqvist
Courtesy of The Photographers’ Gallery
