Street photography captures random, unstaged incidents and situations that happen at decisive moments in public places, using deliberate techniques such as composition, framing, and timing. Artists have been documenting the streets for a long time (millennia in fact) but during the 20th century, when portable cameras became available, it adopted the stylistic form we recognize today.
In Finland, a healthy community of street photographers continues to thrive, and through the local hub that I myself curate I came to have the honor of meeting one of the most amazing street photographers active today, recognized here and abroad. An enlightened, spiritual man, he uses the medium to seek profound truths about himself and the world, while conjuring haunting visions of urban beauty.
Hello! Please tell a bit about your origins.
I was born in 1991 in Kabul, Afghanistan, but my family had to move to Iran, where I grew up. Then, exactly ten years ago, love brought me to Finland: I got married to an Afghan girl who had been living here with her family since 2002, and now we have a lovely son!
How did you get started with street photography?
It was back in 2016 or ’17 that I got interested. I had this old iPhone 6 at that moment… Wow, that sounds like ages ago! But yeah, I was on Instagram and I saw people shooting with their phones, it was a thing. And I’ve always had this way of visualizing things, but never had the chance to translate it into action, or express it in art form.
Do you have any formal study in art?
No. As a kid I used to enjoy painting, but because of the conditions back then I couldn’t follow up. Visual arts were not much appreciated (as music was). I think it was for a reason, so I don’t regret anything. I’m grateful for what happened and for what didn’t happen. I’m glad that I grew up in an era before total digitalization, playing football on the streets of Kabul and Iran… The street is where I took my first steps out of my comfort zone. So eventually I found photography (or photography found me). Since then, the camera has been an extension of my imagination. I carry it with me always, no matter the weather. Sometimes I even have to force myself to go out without it!
How was your creative development?
You know, recently a friend of mine asked me to show him my first photos, so I did. It’s funny because at that time I had fallen in love with the sky in Finland, so most are shots of that! Then I did silhouettes, then reflections. I was feeling this thing inside me, coming out. I kept learning, playing with shadows…
You seem to favor monochrome a lot.
I love color, but I see and feel in black and white. I know what I want from a photo, I see it in monochrome. Color should add something to the photo, otherwise it’s better in monochrome. In terms of color, when we see photos from the classic era of street photography, it’s not just about the color produced by the film. Life was more colorful then, color had such depth! How could you not celebrate it and shoot in color! Nowadays it seems we don’t have proper reds, greens, yellows. It feels like a mix of everything and nothing. Those blue cars in the 60s… Where have all those colors gone?
What software do you use for post?
In the beginning I was using Snapseed to edit on the phone, and sometimes VSCO presets. I also tried Hipstamatic, there was a lot of stuff back then. Now I use Adobe Camera RAW, and Lightroom.
Are you trying to be minimalistic on purpose?
No, and I don’t see my work as minimalistic. I think minimalism is like trying hard to avoid something. I prefer simplicity, where I know what I want, I make it simple, and I put it in a frame.
Who are your street photo heroes?
Ernst Haas. Saul Leiter. Cartier-Bresson, who was a painter also. He was not using a moment to shoot, he was using a full minute! Garry Winogrand, who had this madness… He died without developing tons of film… I admire that madness, in a way. But Vivian Maier is one of the greatest inspirations for me. When I finally got a camera and started shooting, some people mentioned my photos reminded them of her work, so I looked her up because I hadn’t heard of her. Her photos remind me of Hitchcock films, by the way they slowly get you into a scene, you know? Even though you don’t see Hitchcock, you can feel his presence. Maier’s work is like that, her photos are her legacy, her living presence, and I feel a strong connection. There’s this Persian poem that says: when a name becomes immortal, it won’t die. So when an artist’s name becomes renown, there is no death. Have you heard of Masha Ivashintsova, by the way?
No, I haven’t. Who is she?
Oh, she was like a Russian Vivian Maier! Their stories are incredibly similar, it’s like they were working in parallel realities. They both accumulated a ton of work, which they never showed to anybody, and both were discovered much later. Masha felt her work wasn’t worth it compared to that of her friend artists, so she kept it only to herself. 17 years after her death, her daughter found like 30.000 negatives in the attic, so now her family is slowly building a collection and we’ll finally get to enjoy more of her work.
I will look her up! Do you ever try to emulate a specific photographer?
In 2019, in Aleksanterinkatu I think it was, I shot somebody holding their dog. Then someone commented “that’s so Eliott Erwitt!” I don’t mind that, because I’m never trying to copy or emulate anybody (not on purpose, at least). When I go out shooting I don’t have a clear idea of what I will do that day, and I don’t think much. Things are there and I take the shot.
Photography can be magical. How does it do it, you think?
I think poetry exists not in the things we see, but in the way we see them. Each person has their own vision, and a connection with their own feelings. If you’re worrying too much whether the framing is right or wrong, or if it should be 3:2 or some other, you’re missing the pure feeling of that moment. Not being in the present moment, thinking “when I was there” or “when I get there” takes you away from yourself, which limits the emotion you can pour into the photo. You see, creativity is not something that comes from us, but through us. Vivian Maier never thought of being published, she totally closed the door to all that, and did it just for herself. And that’s what we have to do: do it for ourselves. If, when I’m shooting, I don’t feel the vibe, or I don’t get what it is about, I won’t do it. It should always be something that let my creativity and my vision come out.
I believe we can’t reach a specific place where “creativity” is, it has to be present where we are, not where we want to go. For me, street photography has become a channel for awareness, for more consciousness. If I see a reflection there, I don’t call it a reflection; I don’t call it anything, I don’t care what it is. What matters is how I can use it for my own growth, that I am able to find myself within the frame, I think that’s what’s important in all this.
I also think there’s a mystical side to it. We don’t know, and we search. We stay open to whatever comes our way. That openness to the mystery, the surprise of life, makes it very magical.
Recently you’ve been exploring collage.
That also comes from an inner call. I was looking for a certain physicality in things, so I started with collage, looking for new ways to find expression. Digital photography overwhelms me sometimes, because it feels dead if it doesn’t exist in the physical plane. So I got me a really nice printer and I go “This photo has just been born!” I also like to handwrite things, scan them, and place them within the composition, things like that.
Do you fear being criticized for veering away from pure street?
No, I don’t care. Street photography isn’t even documentary, you know? And even in formal documentary photography you’re taking a stand. Where do you shoot from? How do you frame? What are you saying? Subjectivity can’t be avoided, we’re human beings. And for me this is about the artist’s imagination, I can’t close myself to that.
You love to play with juxtaposition.
I don’t know how to explain it, but… I look at a photo, and it’s calling for the other photo… Like these two are talking to each other! Sometimes I have a clear image, I know exactly what I want. But others I’m just an observer, I just watch as it happens.
Do you ever go abroad to shoot?
I travel sometimes, yes. I was recently in Iran for almost five months, because I needed to take some distance from things. I took my family and we went to visit friends. It was very different for me this time, because I was a kid when I was there last time. I went to see Tehran, which is a massive city, where you can see so many things, so much is happening.
Is it hard to do street photography in Helsinki, because it’s so tiny?
It is small, so in a sense yes, it’s difficult. But like I said, I see street photo as one of the best meditative ways of doing art, because it brings you back into the moment. We have to accept that, okay, this is Helsinki, this is Finland. It’s dark for most of the year, so accept it. We all have some darkness inside, no? When we don’t accept we cannot be happy. For example, when I came back from Iran I realized I can’t bring the place with me, I can only bring the experience. I think we should feel a sense of timelessness and placelessness wherever we are. Otherwise we’ll be constantly missing out. Like, if you try to shoot Helsinki like it’s Paris, you’ll end up shooting Paris like it’s Helsinki! We have to let go of preconceived ideas and thoughts… Inspiration should come and touch something inside you, not to become a copy-paste thing. And we shouldn’t take it so seriously, after all. Just stay true, be honest, that’s enough.
I hear you have a book coming?
Yes, finally! One year ago I wanted to do it together with a friend of mine, but he got busy with his studies, and so on. And then I felt like a call, like I should wrap up. So I went through 20 TB of photos in the past few months, selecting material, and deleting half a TB because I really didn’t want to carry so much energy from those moments (and also to make space for new). I really wanted to move on from my previous way of doing photography, so the book is both the sendoff and the kickoff to new things. I hope it will inspire other photographers to print their own material too.
And I wanted people in Finland not to have to pay for the shipment costs. I’m working with SnapCollective, an international company that specializes in high-quality photography books. It will be hardcover, around 160 pages of premium 170g matte paper. For anybody reserving before the 6th of June the price will be 79 eu. After that it will be 90 eu plus the shipment costs (probably 20 eu). I’m really grateful to all the people who have preordered already, and they will get a choice, among six photos, of a fine edition print in A4. We’ll also have a nice party in my studio at Merihaka!
Any exciting projects after the book is out?
I’m experimenting with cinematography, and direction. A friend of mine wrote a script, and we will be shooting soon! I won’t be making blockbusters or anything like that, but something expressive and small-scale.
Just like your photography.
Photography has always helped me. Many times in my life it took me out of what I thought I was, so I could find myself, if that makes sense. It’s a bit like a sacred experience. It doesn’t matter if I shoot five or a hundred in a day; if I’m aware, in the now, that’s enough. Awareness and praying are very close.
Even though he creates masterpieces both in color and monochrome, I had to take an executive decision and choose one. To experience more of this incredible artist’s work, or buy prints or his upcoming book, visit his official website and follow him on Instagram and Facebook. For the best street photography happening in Finland, follow my curation on Instagram.