What inspired you to start publishing books?
Publishing a book was always my main goal. As soon as I finished working on my first big project, Kolsky, about a remote peninsula in the north of Russia, I started thinking about how to turn all the material into a book. I collect photobooks myself and love spending time with these small universes of photographers’ minds and the stories they want to tell. After the project was published and exhibited, a book felt like the logical next step: something physical that stays with the viewer for a longer time.
What draws you to the photobook as a format?
A photobook lets people spend as much time with a project as they wish, from quickly flipping through the pages to slowly following the storyline, understanding the sequence and going deeper into the story.
How has your practice changed over time?
Since publishing my debut photobook, I am more aware of the images I make. Already at an early stage of a new project, I think about how it will work in an exhibition space and how I would like to turn it into a book. Thinking this way helps me develop the story more fully from the very beginning.
What's a book you've been involved with that surprised you — either in how it came together or how it landed?
Kolsky is my first book, so the whole process was new to me, and I learned a lot for future books and publications. It was published by Kult Books, and it was a real pleasure to work with Janne Riikonen. His experience and care made the whole process much easier and helped the book become what it is.
What's next for you?
Right now I am working on a personal project in Moldova, and I hope to publish a book about it in a few years.