Perturbations

I gazed outside a lot of the time, a state of active idleness I would like to think. Absorbing, observing and gazing. Making sense of the small world in front of me.  The windows of my apartment shut, the laptop shut. My mind, quiet. I was eavesdropping on the conversations outside, of inanimate things. Between the power cables and the falling snow. Of the vehicles. More like their tyres rolling on the road. The soft crush of gravel under the tyre, amplified only when closer and crisp as they rolled closer. Of the Friday night vibes of roaring laughter, engines revving up, and loud bass.

One such conversation was quiet, it caught my eye and mind. Somewhere in the parking lot outside, between the tree branches I could see a neon pink box standing still. It said “ice cream” in black italics. Funny, I thought. An ice cream truck, big and bright, stood still and quiet in the snow. What a paradox! I chuckled. It must now be warm inside the box, snowy outside. Inside out.

Bizarrely, the word ‘Perturbation’ came to mind. Perturbation, as explained by Merriam Webster dictionary: “a disturbance of motion, course, arrangement, or state of equilibrium especially : a disturbance of the regular”. Changes in being, doing and thinking. Quantum mechanics sneaked in.
In the words of Ruth H Hopkins, “This new area of science is not about absolutes. It’s about probabilities and possibilities. And it’s forcing experts to expand their definition of reality and embrace the unknown.

A lot of time also spent exploring the streets on rickety bikes that made me laugh till my tummy hurt. On one such wanderings, one of the artist in residence had discovered a quaint antique shop that they took me to. It was brimming with everything from two-inch glass jars to antique tools and records. After examining some vintage cameras, I purchased one small box camera that was placed among home décor items, conveying the message that it was probably only good for display. There was no guarantee that it would function well. But I was drawn to it and decided to take a chance with it. What followed in the next days were unexpected surprises and a find that unlocked curiosity.

The landscapes and seascapes are changing constantly due to climate change and natural phenomenon such as erosion. Over the course of my residency I got the chance to visit Kvarken Archipelago, Finland’s only Natural World Heritage Site known for isostatic uplift of land, land resurfaces since being depressed by large ice shelves over the last ice age.

I was lucky to organise a meet-up with a local nature guide and fisherman Vesa Heinonen, who narrated his experience with the land in his many years of fishing in these waters, the animals that visit and live there, their behavior and his observations on the land with traces of ice age.

Below you can view some images that I made with the Altissa medium format camera when I met him. The double exposure was an accident, but in hindsight, it makes a beautiful juxtaposition of the relationship of communities with their local environment.