Jorma Puranen

Light and reflection are the leitmotifs in the works by the Finnish photographer Jorma Puranen, whose conceptual projects often engage with the larger themes of history and memory. For Shadows, Reflections, and All That Sort of Thing (1997–2004), Puranen photographed Old Master oil paintings in their museum setting, taking as his primary focus the light—in particular, the typically disdained glare—that bounced off the varnished surface of these canvases. The intense, raking light obscures and overexposes parts of the painting, heightening an awareness of the photographic process itself, while setting into relief the varied textures that cover these portraits. In Icy Prospects, Puranen examines the arctic landscape that fascinated explorers and tourists alike; but rather than photographing it straight on, he took long exposures of the view reflected on a wood board painted with high-gloss black acrylic. Brushwork and reflection blend together, yielding a painterly image that blurs the boundaries between painting and photography. Sixteen Steps to Paradise is another series that pursues Puranen’s continued conceptual interest in reflections and the dialogue between light and shadows. Taking his garden as his subject, the photographer created ethereal, hallucinatory images of exaggerated tree branches, flowers, and their reflections that conjure a unique sensory impression of this personal wonderland. 

Born in 1951, Puranen received his MA from the University of Art and Design, Helsinki and began his career in the early 1970s. His work has been presented in solo exhibitions at the Kustallianz, Berlin; Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finland; Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium; Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki; Villa Oppenheim, Berlin; Oregon Center for Photographic Art; and other institutions. Puranen has also participated in group exhibitions at the Purdy Hicks Gallery, London; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Stenersen Museum, Oslo; Rauma Art Museum, Finland; Royal Art Academy, Stockholm; and Kopavogur Art Museum, Iceland; among other venues. His work is held in the collections of the Bibliothéque Nationale, Paris; Helsinki City Art Museum; Hasselblad Foundation, Gothenburg; Victoria & Albert Museum; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; and many others. He lives and works in Helsinki.

TL