Maija Annikki Savolainen
When the Sense of Belonging is Bound to a System of Movement

It is said that a photograph can stop time. With the help of a camera, a slice of time can be preserved on a light sensitive surface. To arrest the elusive nature of light, was the intent of young Finnish artist Maija Annikki Savolainen. "When the Sense of Belonging is Bound to a System of Movement" tells a story of a ten day travel that she did in order to reinterpret the mechanical aspect of photography. Maija Annikki Savolainen defines the book being a travel diary of a road trip through time.

The book presents a lucid concept and a compact project, combining factual research of light as hand drawn diagrams with »down to earth« photography. The photography itself, the travel documentation of various places and people, are observations and notions and are presented in the book as film strips. The combination of these elements unfolds the story to a poetic level along with the layout, directing the reader with a gentle sense of humour. While the author and the creator of the book is traveling and following the sun to keep the day the exact same length, she is not only exploring questions of existence but also bringing forward what is essential in photography, the light.

Maija Annikki Savolainen (b. 1981) is winner of the Nordic Dummy Award of the year 2013. The Nordic Dummy Award is an initiative by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, and The Norwegian Association of Fine Art Photographers and takes place annually in connection with the Fotobokfestival Oslo. For the Nordic Dummy Award artists with a connection to the Nordic countries can submit their unpublished photobook, to be judged by a jury selecting shortlisted candidates and the winner.

Maanantai Collective
Nine Nameless Mountains

Published by: Kehrer Verlag in 2013.
Format: 17 x 21 cm, Linen softcover with open spine
Pages: 104 pages, 70 color illustrations
Editor: Maanantai Collective
Authors: Maanantai Collective
Artists: Maanantai Collective
Designed by: Maanantai
Language: English
ISBN 978-3-86828-422-5
http://www.artbooksheidelberg.com/html/detail/de/maanantai-978-3-86828-422-5.html

Maanantai is formed by a group of young photographers from Helsinki. It all started after a succession of Monday meetings, when they decided to escape North to the Norwegian Lofoten Islands, where Nine Nameless Mountains became their story. Challenging the notion of authorship with a body of work made by one common author with 16 eyes, it is a poetical and absurd topographical exploration of the notion of distance and scales – latitude versus altitude.

The book follows the group experimentations, with the mountain as a "leitmotif”, the escaping horizon as a metaphor for life and the impossibility to reach an absolute goal; it revisits the genre of the road-trip with an impish attitude and curiosity towards the unknown. On their way North, the artists played together with natural elements -stones, waves, light, sand, clouds – to create a playfully confusing story, their motive for the celebration of friendship, photography and chance.

"The book was more than any other aspects of the project a space for experimentation, our common territory for tries and surprises. A place where each of us was confronted with the visions of the others and where we could go beyond any individual copyright. We perceived the book as a strong medium; it has its own weight on the ground, like a rock.”

Further information:
www.deutscher-fotobuchpreis.de/html/sieger.htm
http://www.artbooksheidelberg.com/html/de/aktueller_verlagstip.html
http://cargocollective.com/maanantaicollective