Nelli Palomäki’s latest series Sons of Nakhimov is a series of portraits of young pupils from the Nakhimov NavalAcademy, a Russian military school in St Petersburg. The work addresses the tradition of classic, black and white photographic portraiture and the relationship between photography and memory: “A portrait remains forever. It is a desperate way to stay connected to someone who, though possibly a stranger, remains so familiar. It is my way of preserving a part of that person, embalming them. I carry my subject’s memories with me, memories, as they are, being so intimately connected with photographs. Secretly I study their faces. This is how I remember them. I wonder how they remember me”.
Nelli Palomäki (b.1981) is one of the most celebrated artists to have emerged from the Helsinki School and Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Forthcoming projects include a solo exhibition at the FinnishMuseum of Photography, Helsinki, a solo exhibition at Ordrupgaard Art Museum, Denmark and a book published by Hatje Cantz this winter. Recent exhibitions include Les Rencontres d’Arles (Discovery Award 2012) and Kulturhuset,Stockholm, (2012); The National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen; Aperture Gallery, New York; Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne (2011/2010) and Fotomuseum Winterthur (2010). Her work is in numerous collections includingHelsinki City Art Museum, Finland, Hasselblad Foundation, Sweden; Musée de l’Elysée, Switzerland; StatoilHydro Art Collection, Norway.
Sons of Nakhimov
November 9 to December 21, 2012
The Wapping Project Bankside
65a Hopton Street
London SE1 9LR
UK
+44 207 981 9851
