Published by JIANG VASLI, 2021
Text by: Maria Faarinen
Hardback, Sewn binding
160 pages, 69 color plates
Cloth cover, debossed title, silkscreen print
950 copies
size: 148 x 210 x 12mm
ISBN: 978-82-692483-0-2
Photographer Sami Parkkinen took interest in how his child experiences the surrounding world and ended up exploring it through play. Over the years, observing the child’s world developed into a collaborative art project between father and son.
The Father & Son series – started by Parkkinen in 2012 – investigates children’s development of consciousness and the father and son relationship.
Parkkinen photographs shared experiences and life from his child’s viewpoint. Bit by bit, the young mind grasps the world and grows into the person he holds the potential to be. And sharing the child’s experiences creates a portal to one’s own lost childhood memories.
“Children are real Zen-masters and mindfulness gurus. Freedom and creativity, their world is a world of possibilities. I seek as an artist to bring forward a playful and alternative perspective of the world, where the human understands the interdependence between himself and the rest of nature.”
Sami Parkkinen (b. 1974) is a Finnish photographer. He employs photography and sculpture to investigate the human consciousness and the need to rebuild society. Since 2009, he has exhibited at a number of museums and galleries, including The National Museum of Finland (2021), Finnish Museum of Photography (2010), the National Portrait Gallery, London (2015), and Circulation(s) – Festival de la Jeune Photographie Européenne, Paris (2016). His works are also held by notable public and private collections.