Ulla-Maija Alanen: Horizons of Water

The work adopts the form of a traditional photography book deliberately and with control. The cover does not strive for showiness, even though it conceals one of the book’s most impressive moments. Careful choice of materials and the considered layout build a calm whole, in which years of research are distilled into a visually coherent and at times moving outcome.

Thorough contextualisation anchors the photographs depicting water lilies as part of a broader discussion on the state of Finland’s fragile forest-lake ecosystems, lending weight to the work. The book’s apparent conventionality thus becomes its strength. It slows down the act of viewing and guides the reader to examine a familiar subject with renewed intensity. Form and content resonate with one another subtly but consistently.

Writers: Ulla-Maija Alanen, Susanna Pettersson, Juhani Pallasmaa
Graphic design: Ilona Ilottu, Dog Design
Image processing: Petri Kuokka, Aarnipaja
Printing: Jelgavas Tipogrāfija, Latvia
Language: Finnish, English
Title: Veden horisontit / Horizons of Water
Publisher: Self-published
Edition: 500
Release date: 11 January 2025
ISBN: 978-952-94-9743-0

Natalia Kopkina: Liiketutkielma (Veen emo)

The first thing that catches the eye is the form of the work. Large in scale yet delicate, the work makes excellent use of the aesthetics of fragility. The thin, translucent paper echoes the water theme and subtlety of movement depicted in the photographs. Sun-worn recycled paper fits perfectly the moment by the water portrayed by the work.

In the publication, a simple, small event grows larger than itself. The strength of the work lies in the fact that it explains nothing, only shows. One feels compelled to return to the book again and again. In its very simplicity, it offers new discoveries with every viewing.

The decisive movements of the figure and its eventual disappearance into the water are conveyed with surprising impact despite the large size and fragility of the sheets of paper. The work is a fine example of how conceptual simplicity, combined with a considered form of presentation, can in the hands of an open-minded reader expand to unexpected proportions.

Book binding: Juha Markula
Language: Finnish
Title: Liiketutkielma (Veen emo)
Publisher: I am not Publishing
Edition: 50
Release date: 21 December 2025
ISBN: 978-952-69089-6-0

Juliana Irene Smith

The deliberately ordinary, even banal aesthetic of the book positions it close to everyday objects, such as notebooks, calendars, or family albums. Its colourful form slips seamlessly into the everyday life it also deals with.

The pages teem with images from the artist’s childhood and youth, interwoven with mundane pictures of her own children and partner. Layers of time mingle without any clear hierarchy, and the reader inevitably begins to wonder what things recur across generations.

Yet the work’s apparent playfulness never remains superficial. It creates just enough distance for the reader to confront a painful subject. Personal trauma becomes part of a universal everydayness, where the boundaries between joy and sorrow are porous. The visual lightness is disrupted by plainspoken sentences and single words, reminding us that a stain can emerge just as easily from joy as from pain.

Everyday life in the book appears like a white sock among colourful laundry – exuberant and lively, yet irrevocably transformed.

Writers: Arvid van der Rijt, Sanna Lehtinen, Saara Mahbouba
Book design: Toivo Heinimäki, Juliana Irene Smith
Printing: BALTO print
Language: Englanti
Title: Good Feelings Every Day
Publisher: Utu Press
Edition: 200
Release date: 16 October 2025
ISBN: 978-952-65274-9-9