Lecture by Hannamari Shakya “Documentary photography and its current trends”

Lecture by Hannamari Shakya, former teacher of documentary photography at Aalto University in Helsinki and editor-in-chief of major documentary photography magazine Raw View, “Documentary photography and its current trends”. Background of the photo story Hybrid Daughter and social purpose of photography (the series is partially included in the exhibition Eye-to-Eye.

Hannamari Shakya by herself:
I´m educated as a journalist and as a photographer. I have Master’s degree in art and culture but I have also studied documentary filmmaking, literature and photojournalism. I would say that I’m mostly a storyteller but I also want to help others to tell stories and that’s why I teach. I love teaching. While you speak aloud, you learn a lot. You learn more about humanity as well.

My latest work as a photographer is a story of my own daughter. I call her a hybrid daughter: she is half-Finnish and half-Nepalese. We speak 2 languages at home and have mixed cultures and have created one that combines all of them. In this project called Hybrid Daughter, I’m investigating the identity of women who are from at least 2 ethnical or cultural backgrounds. They don’t look like Finns but they are, and the society specifies them as outsiders. That is hurtful and extremely violent towards these women. It is also a story of prejudice and racism in Finland. I feel that it is important to react to these pre-assumptions and discuss openly in the changing society.

Entrance with the ticket of the Docphoto Centre – 2 EUR