Liisa Takala’s photography project started when she was observing the rehearsals of Myllyjoutsen’s elderly ballet dance group at the Myllypuro senior center. Impressed by the dancers’ enthusiasm, Takala applied for and received a grant to document Helsinki’s elderly hobby groups: “I thought about whether it is too often and too easily thought of as a people get older that they should move to “the stands”. With my pictures, I want to show that it doesn’t have to be this way. You can start a various number of new lives: perform, liven up, and boldly try something new.”
The Iki-ihanat photo exhibition has two parts: black-and-white portraits of Myllyjoutsen’s ballet dancers and documentary photos of the various hobby and exercise groups of Helsinki’s elderly. The pictures show, among other things, dance, theater, exercise, yoga, drawing and flower workshops.
Takala has been able to photograph freely in her own style, looking for joy and life in her pictures: “I have been able to meet great and unique groups and their creative directors. This has brought me enormous amounst of joy during the year.“
The photo exhibition is on display at the Cable Factory’s Puristamo from 20 to 30 of March from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m daily.
Liisa Takala graduated as a photographer from the Lahti Institute of Design in 1994 and has been photographing for 30 years. He says that traditional documentation, reportage-like photography, is the most challenging in photography, where you can follow situations and shoot longer and give chance a chance.
Liisa Takala’s exhibition is part of the national Armas festival that celebrates aging.
