Jari Salo: Monolith

Monolith is a journey of introspection, exploring the genesis of my own identity as a son, a man, a father. It revolves around the themes of abandonment, absence, blame and acceptance.

The work is a combination of anthropomorphic landscape photography, psychogeography and personal archival material. The collection consists of hand-printed black and white images, damaged polaroids and archival family pictures.

Images are interspersed with texts recounting my personal memories of family relationships and events. Images are reminiscent of a pivotal family road trip before my father’s departure, functioning as a way to reconstruct and re-establish the meaning and importance of those early relationships for the development of myself as a man, and later as a father.

Re-enacting the childhood trip with my own son adds layers to my understanding of fatherhood, further elaborating the theme of transferring values, beliefs and experiences to the next generation.

Central to the imagery is the monolith – a mysterious, solitary stone, perhaps symbolizing resilience or continuity, connecting personal experiences with broader cultural and psychological themes. Many things can be attributed to the monolith, but ultimately its meaning remains subjective and personal. A mystery that cannot be completely solved.