©Nina Korhonen
©Nina Korhonen
©Nina Korhonen
©Nina Korhonen
JANUARY 19TH - MARCH 9TH 2008
The photographer Nina Korhonens exhibition is a story about her grandmother Anna who emigrated to the U.S in 1959 and lived there for 40 years until her death in 1999.
In spring 1959 Anna realised her life´s dream and with a couple of hundred dollars and no special skills in the English language, she flew to New York.
It was meant that her husband Kalle and their daughter Lilli would accompany Anna in their new life together. Though this wasn’t to be. Lilli met the love of her life,
Kauko, and wanted nothing more than to stay in Finland and raise a family. Kalle decided also to stay behind in Finland because for his part,
being a seaman he had travelled to all the great ports of the world. The seafarer now thought that it was his turn to step ashore and stay at home.
” That I actually made it to America”, Anna was careful to say, ”was a gift from Kalle”.
Later in life Anna remembered the decisive moment when her husband Kalle exclamed ,
” My darling love, now it is your turn to experience the world!”
The journey to America had been Anna´s big dream since she was eight years old when she had promised to follow her aunt to the great ”Wonderland”.
The dream had been planted, to awaken several decades later when Anna lost her job in the textile factory.
Anna was 40 years old and due to the bad economic situation then it was impossible to find a new job.
In New York Anna found a job as a cook for a wealthy American family on Manhattan.
She loved New York and eventually settled in Finntown, Brooklyn and later in Lake Worth, Florida.
Anna travelled to Finland every summer and Kalle flew to New York every winter.
In between they wrote to each other and kept their love alive, because as Anna clearly declared to all curious family members,”love has no borders”
When Kalle died in Finland in1985, Nina Korhonen found old color photographs from their trips together in the U.S.and inspired by these and
Anna’s life story she decided to photograph Anna.
She visited Anna regularly for two, three weeks at a time and photographed her grandmothers’ everydaylife extensively.
The exhibition and book ‘Anna, Amerikan mummu ‘documents the last seven years of Anna’s life.
Nina Korhonen is born in 1961 in Tampere, Finland.
Since 1981 she lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
She has published the book Minne, Muisto, Memory 1997 and
won the Swedish ‘Book of the Year Award’ in 2004 with Anna, Amerikan mummu.
Nina is a member of picture agency Mira/Nordicphotos.
“Anna, Amerikan Mummu”, illustrated, Published by Journal (2nd printed edition)
The exhibition has received funding for the Danish Arts Council and The Finish Institute, Copenhagen
Opening hours Tuesday to Saturday 11 - 5
©Nina Korhonen |
©Nina Korhonen |
©Nina Korhonen |
©Nina Korhonen |