To photograph a butterfly
Exhibited at Kuvan Kevät 2024
Through photographs and an essay, To photograph a butterfly discusses how seeing is influenced by the different types of knowledge one has acquired.
Starting from a brief encounter with a butterfly, the work acts as an attempt to not take things for granted—to question what it is to see something, to be attentive, and to draw connections.
My dad points his finger towards an illustration of a butterfly in the book that he is holding. I point my camera towards the book and I take the photograph. My dad points his binoculars towards a flower where a butterfly has landed. I point my camera towards the butterfly and I take the photograph. The butterfly takes flight.
Starting from a brief encounter with a butterfly, the work acts as an attempt to not take things for granted—to question what it is to see something, to be attentive, and to draw connections.
My dad points his finger towards an illustration of a butterfly in the book that he is holding. I point my camera towards the book and I take the photograph. My dad points his binoculars towards a flower where a butterfly has landed. I point my camera towards the butterfly and I take the photograph. The butterfly takes flight.
Joel Hilska-Heikkinen