Ongoing
Kadıköy Songs – The first novel in a trilogy that will take the reader on a journey through time in the Caucasus and beyond. In connection with this work, I completed a one-month research-based residency at Arthere Istanbul in September 2023.
Transit – a work-in-progress about the relationship between people, public space and the viewer. This growing series aims to be seen in temporary and unexpected spaces, with the first exhibition in Finland in June 2024.
Past projects
Al-Qahira Expres – A novel published in June 2023. It’s a story about a boy who decides to go to Egypt on foot. A couple of excerpts from this novel are available also in audio format.
Stories From A Time Machine – These photographs revolve upon the relationship between image and story, fact and fiction, memory and gap. The series includes prints from dry plates, archival material from Istanbul and from my family album as well my own photography from places of personal importance.
Afropolis – Documentary photography on urban environment and its ongoing transformation in the Sahel. I started this project in autumn 2019 and lately it’s been expanding to cover any urban space intrinsically.
En février écrivez – I took part in the one-month-challenge by lesmots.co to write fiction on a daily basis. One thousand signs daily on given topics, three thousand signs in weekends.
Get Ndaru Mool – Organic photography and a photo essay with portraits produced on fish skin. They represent a community of fishermen who, as a result of climate change, coastal erosion and rising sea levels, are losing their homes and jobs in a world in which the entire traditional and small-scale fishing and fish processing are at stake. These portraits have been on show in Gorée in April 2019 by Fondation Dapper and in Finland in June-July 2019 in a collective show called The Ocean of Tuonela.
Deep – underwater photography. This work touches my own limits and paces my existence according to the rhythm of free-diving. Some photos in the series have been on show in Finland and in St.Louis, Missouri (US), hosted by Barret Barrera Projects and curated by Modou Dieng / Blackpuffin. In 2021 I’m experimenting with the combination of underwater photography and cyanotype. A very blue period indeed.
Soundscapes from the Sahel – If anything, it is not quiet in the Sahel region. I am creating short videos in which I combine sounds – music or other types of spontaneous sounds – and visual elements.
Azmari House, or What Happened After Midnight – A study on the Ethiopian institution of Azmari Houses, cafés and more generally public space and their role in contemporary Ethiopian urban culture.
Haal Pulaar! – In 2021 I collected my favorite words and expressions customary to the Pulaar language. You can read about this personal adventure of learning a language in my blog, along with other topics.
Ci biir dexu Senegal – stories from the Senegal river – a photography book with stories told by Idrissa Diallo. Translated from Wolof, the Finnish edition Tarinoita Senegaljoesta was published in March 2019.
Afropolis 2020: Saint-Louis – A home residency project carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic. The residency resulted in a series of photographs and a 45-minute documentary that I shot originally with an 8mm camcorder. Contains interviews.
Nordic Makers’ Film Festival – a presentation video for the festival held in Finland in October 2020. I am a member of the organizing committee of this festival through Yelema Ry.
Evanesce – Underwater photography, mixed media. A series that combines documentary and the transmission of organic matter in my photographic work.
Recent exhibitions
Coming up – June: Transit. Photographs & August: Slow! Pinhole photographs, collective exhibition, Kristinestad, Finland.
19 May – 19 June 2022, Dakar Biennale OFF. Laawol ngol ina juuti. Photographs at Saveurs de Ndar, Saint-Louis, Senegal.
13-18 June 2022, Time Machine. Photographs at Norra Tullstugan, Kristinestad, Finland.
12 July-10 August 2022, Tirkistelijät. Photographs in a collective exhibition at Starckes hus, Kristinestad, Finland.
September 2022: Harvesting of experimental prints produced with and on plants during the summer. Online exhibition.
In 4-5 September 2021 I open the doors to my summer studio during Konstrundan in Finland.
Afrikkalaisia Kaupunkitiloja – Afrikanska Urbana Rum, Photographs and a documentary screening. Pohjoinen Tullitupa (Kristinestad, 9.-16 August 2020). A home residency project supported by The Kone Foundation.
A work-in-progress preview on Afropolis, Ndar Ndar Music & Café (Saint-Louis, Nov.-Dec. 2019)
Collective: Barrett Barrera Projects and Blackpuffin are pleased to present Saint Louis to St. Louis: The City on the River meets River City curated by Modou Dieng, a major exhibition of contemporary art from Saint Louis, Senegal in St. Louis, Missouri (US) with a show celebrating sister cities across the great Atlantic Ocean and global artistic exchange of diaspora and hybridity (Oct. 17 – Dec. 21, 2019.)
Collective: The Ocean of Tuonela: Human and Temporal Impacts, 17-31 July at Bailiff Starcke’s House, Kristinestad, Finland.
Collective: Vivre! Photographie de la Résilience. Fondation Dapper, (29 March-29 April 2019, Gorée, Senegal)
Artskop’s exhibition catalogue Living! Photographs of Resilience
Evanesce – Ndar Ndar Music & Café (12-30 April 2019, Saint-Louis, Senegal)
Häivähdys. Photographs (10-20 June, Pohjoinen Tullitupa, Kristiinankaupunki, Finland)
Collective: Vivre! Photographie de la Résilience. Fondation Dapper, (29 March-29 April 2019, Gorée, Senegal)
Evanesce. Photographs on organic surfaces. (12-30 April 2019, Ndar Ndar, Saint-Louis)
Self. Portraits on wood (2018, Ndar Ndar, Saint-Louis)
Deep. Underwater portraits (June 2018, Kristinestad International Art Week, Finland)
Something is hatching at la Folie du Baron. Photographs (2017, La Résidence, Saint-Louis)
Ça Bouge. Photographs and video installation (2017, Festival Le Fleuve en couleurs, Saint-Louis)
Jamonoo Ngi Nii. Photographs and video installation (2016, Dakar Biennale OFF)
Collective: Dessins & Design. Photographs and light installations (2016, Galérie Éthiopiques, Saint-Louis)
Sabaru Demb – A Rhythmic Experience. Photography and recordings (2015, Galérie Éthiopiques, Saint-Louis)
J.K. Pikkujämsä 