Esko Männikkö

ESKO MÄNNIKKÖ

TELL ME WHERE YOU LIVE

Esko Männikkö's photographs resemble anthropological documentary, however they have been carefully composed with regard to composition and colours.

Barbarita, Batesville 1997

Description
An elderly woman is leaning against an open garden gate. Like the rest of the fence around the chaotic plot, the gate is a makeshift model. The woman's clothes are gaudy and washed-out. Behind her a hovel is almost concealed by green trees and other plants. The sky in the picture's left-hand corner is an azure blue with drifting white clouds.

The photograph is taken with a wide-angle lens, emphasising the central part of the picture, the elderly woman, and giving an impression of rotation.

About the work
An elderly woman is posing in front of her humble little home, welcoming the onlooker with a mixture of obligingness and reservation. Our view of and encounter with her is an integral part of the picture's meaning.
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Männikkö's art in general
The lodestar for Männikkö's art is the everyday, our surroundings and the conditions in our lives. He seeks out marginalised groups living outside the attention and interest of the authorities in areas marked by material scarcity. The portraits include the immediate environment around the subjects, typically their homes or surroundings.
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Litterature
"Esko Männikkö. Mexas" (Maaretta Jaukkuti, Gary Michael Dault), Göteborg, 1999