‘Façades’ is an intimate depiction of urban life in London. The result of a two-and-a-half year project, it portrays London from the perspective of London-based Finnish photographer and writer Carita Laamanen.
“This city is a myth. Its streets are lined with images. These are images of fantasies and fantasies made of even the most simple of dreams. Everyone has come here with a dream and I was not any different. It was in this city however where the world was stripped in front of my eyes. I saw my own desires imagined and on sale.
When I finally understood what I saw, the façades, the fantasies and the weightless words, I became disillusioned with mine.”
Photographed on black-and-white 35mm film, Laamanen’s work confronts photography itself as much as it does her subject matter. The intrinsic fleetingness of the photographic image is used to incredible effect in this series of works that question and challenge the commonly perceived façades seen to represent the city we know.
Coffeesmiths Art: Façades by Carita Laamanen
Photographer Carita Laamanen questions the reality of our perceptions in a series of enigmatic photographs
‘Façades’ by Carita Laamanen
Department of Coffee and Social Affairs
20 October 2011 – 17 January 2012
‘Façades’ is an intimate depiction of urban life in London. The result of a two-and-a-half year project, it portrays London from the perspective of London-based Finnish photographer and writer Carita Laamanen.
“This city is a myth. Its streets are lined with images. These are images of fantasies and fantasies made of even the most simple of dreams. Everyone has come here with a dream and I was not any different. It was in this city however where the world was stripped in front of my eyes. I saw my own desires imagined and on sale.
When I finally understood what I saw, the façades, the fantasies and the weightless words, I became disillusioned with mine.”
Photographed on black-and-white 35mm film, Laamanen’s work confronts photography itself as much as it does her subject matter. The intrinsic fleetingness of the photographic image is used to incredible effect in this series of works that question and challenge the commonly perceived façades seen to represent the city we know.
Carita lives and works in London. To view more of her work visit www.caritalaamanen.com
‘Façades’ is part of the Photomonth East London Photography Festival 2011, celebrating the diversity of contemporary photography.
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