I was previously employed in telecommunications for about 8 years, until I decided upon a life that enabled me to fulfill a passion/necessity for travel. The camera provides for me an opportunity to explore new spaces with a greater intensity. The spaces I photograph a generally void of people. On the occasions that they are present, they occupy a small part of the frame enveloped by their surroundings. I am more interested in the traces that people and civilisation leave behind. Large format film also captures details that are not always immediately apparent. It allows contemplation of numerous elements in the picture.
My father was a builder. I never had the drive to follow in his steps. It is perhaps interesting that he was in the process of construction, while my pictures are often looking at the process of destruction, (entropy that strikes all matter).
I have an interest in sites from the former Soviet block. To me Russia and its surroundings were always an alien environment. It was something that the Finns fought against successfully in WWII. I was taught that without the heroic efforts of the soldiers in the war, Finland would have been swallowed up by the Soviet empire also. Finland was the land of liberation, while Russia was the land of stagnation. Finns still look at the Russians with distrust, even after the fall of communism. So as I travel through many countries of the former eastern bloc, I sometimes feel that this is the land that could have been install for me, under different circumstances.
Juha Tolonen
I was born in Geraldton 1968. I am the second son of Finnish immigrant parents.
I started study photomedia in 1997 at ECU. I graduated with First Class Honours in 2000.I have been photographing abandoned industrial sites for the past 6 years. This has included sites around Perth, and rural and mining regions of WA. More recently I have explored sites in Europe, particularly in Germany and regions of Eastern Europe.I photograph with an old large format press camera, that has been modified to fit a wide angle lens suitable for landscapes.I try to travel about once a year, whether its overseas or areas around WA, depending on the finances.
j.tolonen@ecu.edu.au
