Teemu Mäki: Miten olla mies tai nainen tai jotain muuta

The book, comprising a wide spectrum of portraits and an abundance of Teemu Mäki’s own writing, is like a route of forking paths where the artist’s scrutiny of gender roles offered by society become entangled with questions aroung e.g. family relations, aging, death and art. A common thread in the portraits is the photographer’s strict pursuit towards sincerity – while being conscious of the threat of the impossibility of the task itself. The diversity of the personas depicted, together with the revealing, almost laboratory-like, lighting of the images, and the tapestry of texts create a strong photo book with a voice of its own.

Miten olla mies tai nainen tai jotain muuta is the winner of the Finnish Photobook Award 2020.