Photographs Juha Tanhua’s cosmic images attract attention in the world, but really galaxies are born in supermarket parking lots

Multi thinks the photographer Juha Tanhuan photographed space as an experienced magazine photographer actually pointed his pipe down, toward the ground, toward asphalt.

For 17 years, Tanhua has been filming spills in the country, more specifically oil and gasoline spills from cars on asphalt. They have given rise to a confusing series of images called Hubble No., James Webb No.. The name is a reference to the famous space telescopes.

These the images give the viewer the impression of a starry sky, such as Katri Helenan in a famous song?

The graph does not seem satisfied with the alignment. “I don’t get so excited about Katri Helena’s music,” Tanhua says.

However, the song says that give me the starry skyand that’s what’s happening here.

“That’s right,” Tanhua says.

Tanhua had an exhibition of these “space photos” last autumn in Lahti.

“The National Gallery, the State Art Commission, has bought one of the pictures. It is reportedly on the wall of some ministry. I don’t remember which one, ”Tanhua says.

Tanhua is now a 62-year-old professional photographer who has taken pictures in newspapers and the media in general for over 40 years.

He started filming spots in 2005 after going to a photography gig in Lahti. He drove the car to the parking lot and noticed a spot in the parking lot next door. “Oil had spilled on the ground, or more of that gasoline, those spills are. That pattern looked just like northern lights, ”Tanhua recalls.

That’s where the idea came from.

Tanhua has since filmed oil spills in the parking lots of Finnish S and K supermarkets.

Tahnuan according to the image obtained by the National Gallery has its original name 02 2EM1926but later Tanhua renamed the picture Dragon’s Taleksi.

Dragon’s tail.

The name is in English because Tanhua has applied for international distribution of his images.

Tanhua’s photos have recently been taken into consideration by an international photography site Petapixel.

Spots demand the right conditions, Tanhua tells HS.

“Oil stains fade quickly, and only rainwater becomes a work of art. The picture won’t be on display for a long time, and if you go in the dry summer, it won’t be like that. It requires rain, then it forms. ”

Or as the editor of Etelä-Suomen Sanomat expressed evaluating Tanhua’s recent exhibition: “The rain has used its own brushes in the puddles and made the spots look like distant galaxies.”

Cameraman Tanhua names his “space images” in the traditional style of the digital age, leaving most of the images with the original file name, series numbers, and letters.

That’s right, because the nebulae have similar names.

Spots also require some image processing. At first, Tanhua exposed the picture too much.

“When I shoot against black asphalt and underexpose the image, the rocks on the asphalt turn into stars. That’s when you add contrast in Photoshop. ”

Tanhua says the image should not be disturbed too much. It is a doctrine he has learned as a journalist.

“Just add contrast. I don’t change colors. When the bottom is black, it almost always turns bluish, the same shade as space. When the asphalt illuminates properly, so will what comes. Pretty often bluish tones and yellowish dots on asphalt stones. Therefore, the images resemble space. Sometimes there may be pieces of magazine in the picture, and even cigarette butts. ”

Picture called 3251515 differs somewhat from other Tanhua “space images”.

“It’s more than a satellite image of the planet’s surface where the ancient river would go. It is photographed in the spring on top of snow, though the snow is dirty. It’s like a post-apocalyptic Amazon to me, ”Tanhua describes.

What the viewer then gets from images that are like space but aren’t?

“Maybe an astonishment,” Tanhua speculates.

Tanhua says there have been a lot of children in the audience in his shows, brought by visual arts teachers.

“Many come to the gallery to see pictures from space. It was precisely intended to confuse the viewer. ”

Then why don’t you shoot real stars from the sky?

“They’re already filmed so terribly, and the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes are tough competitors. The pictures I take have not been seen by anyone else, ”Tanhua explains.

Tanhua’s “space images” have emerged in part as a counterweight to Tanhua’s bread work, in which he describes sports events and personal portraits to the media.

“In these spatial images, I get to focus in peace and no one looks at the clock.”

Tanhualla there are also pairs of pictures he has photographed in his native Lapland. Each space image is paired with an old reel.

“I photographed them at night by painting them out of the dark for 15 minutes. I am a Sámi and the series of pictures depicts the extremes of Sámiism: urban petrol spots and hundreds of years old coils. ”

Shooting unusual spots and reflections in the streets and parking lots sometimes arouses astonishment among passers-by.

“Once I was filming a reflection coming to the street. I went to my office. I got a good angle. An ambulance arrived. I had looked out the window and thought I had someone in trouble. ”