Aki-Pekka Sinikoski, Photographer from Helsinki, Finland
"I spent most of my childhood summers in the Finnish archipelago where we lived in our old fishing boat.
Almost every night, we traveled to a new island. As a kid, I learned that if I make a campfire, people will gather around it. So every night, I did a campfire, and every night people gathered around it. Later in the darkness, people started to tell stories.
Every time I did a campfire, I got new stories. I just listened to and memorized these stories, and after the summer, I told the stories to my friends in the city.
I think I'm still doing the same thing. I am collecting stories and telling them to other people with the help of my art.
Many of my photo works are about time, identity and change. I'm not looking for decisive moments but rather the stagnant feeling just after these moments."
Aki-Pekka Sinikoski is a multi-faceted portrait photographer whose works have been exhibited both in Finland and internationally. As a documentarist, his best-known photo series are Finnish Teens, Last Machos, MJ, and I Love Dogs.
New Ghosts – the photo series he has been working on since 2011 with his daughter Astrid has exhibited already on three continents. You might have seen their photos also on different media like Vogue, The Guardian, or Finnish TV News.
Sinikoski is also working as a novelist. His debut book Under the Moon (Kuun valossa/Under månen) was nominated as one of the most exciting children's books of the year by Suomen Kuvalehti. Journalist Paavo Häikiö said in Finland's leading culture program in TV (KulttuuriCocktail) that Sinikoski's book is the best children's book he has read for many years.
Besides all the things listed above, Sinikoski has also built robots, made music videos and short films, built sound installations, played in a Gameboy Bigband, worked as an Art Director and A&R for the different artists in the music industry. Sinikoski is also a founder, executive producer, and curator of the Helsinki Biennale exhibitions since 2006.
Sinikoski has studied in Kunstakademiet at Kunsthøgskolen i Bergen, Norway, and graduated as Master of Art from the Department of Media at Aalto University, Finland. His major subject is from the Aalto University's Institution of Photography, and his minor subject is from the Aalto University School of Business.
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During the years Aki-Pekka Sinikoski’s artistic work has been supported by Suomen kulttuurirahasto, Taike (Arts Promotion Centre Finland), Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Svenska kulturfonden, Patricia Seppälän Säätiö, Jokes, Stiftelsen Finlandssvensk Bokkultur, Konstsamfundet, and WSOY:n kirjallisuussäätiö.
Sinikoski's debut book Under the Moon (Kuun valossa/Under månen) was published in the Spring 2020 by Schildts & Söderströms. As an author he is represented by Helsinki Literary Agency.
EXHIBITIONS / INSTALLATIONS / PERFORMANCES / SCREENINGS
Small selection of Aki-Pekka Sinikoski’s exhibitions, installations, and performances below; full CV can be sent on request
New Ghosts, Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga, Latvia, 2021
I Love Dogs, Head On Photo Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2021
New Ghosts. Meitar Award exhibition - Photo Is:rael, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2021
New Ghosts, Turku Kunsthalle, Turku, Finland, 2021
New Ghosts, Kranj Foto Fest, Kranj, Slovenia 2021
New Ghosts, Northern Photographic Centre, Oulu, Finland, 2021
New Ghosts, Backlight 2021, The Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos, Inari, Finland, 2021
I Love Dogs, VB-Photo Centre, Kuopio, Finland, 2021
Last Machos, shortlisted, Best One Shot, Kolga Tbilisi Photo Festival, Georgia
New Ghosts. Director’s Choice, photoSCHWEIZ, Zürich, Switzerland, 2021
New Ghosts. Kuala Lumpur Photo Awards - Sense of Self, Kuala Lumpur, Malesia
New Ghosts, Photo Vogue Festival, Milan, Italy, 2020
New Ghosts, Hippolyte Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2020
New Ghosts, Yeltsin Center, Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2020
Finnish Teens, Revela't Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 2020
New Ghosts, Backlight Photo Festival, Tampere, Finland, 2020
New Ghosts, Galleria Ratamo, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2020
New Ghosts, Head On Photo Festival, Sydney, Australia, 2019
New Ghosts, Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, Russia, 2019
New Ghosts, Off Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2019
Finnish Teens, Wiesbaden Fototage, Germany, 2019
New Ghosts, More than 20 short term exhibitions & performances, USA, Frace, Spain, Andorra, Finland, 2017-2019
Last Machos, Creat Space Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2017
Northern Encounters, Northern Photographic Centre, Oulu, Finland, 2017
Last Machos, Galleria Vanha Kappalaisentalo, Porvoo, Finland, 2016
Endless Summer, Ii, Finland, 2015
What Future, Encontros Da Imagem, Portugal, 2012
Finnish Teens (Thank You for Watching), Screening, Les rencontres Arles, France, 2012
Finnish Teens, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland, 2011
Production and curating: Helsinki Biennale 2008, Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland, 2008–2009
Square Minutes. International Photography Festival, Leipzig, Germany, 2007
Production and curating: Helsinki Biennale 2006, Myymälä2 Gallery, Helsinki, Finland, 2006
Bye Bye Bergen (And I Won’t Miss Your Ladies), Project Gallery, Bergen, Norway, 2004
