MIKKO RASILA

A selection of ‘Il Adore’ series (started 2009, ongoing), lensed with various models by Mikko Rasila.

about Mikko Rasila

I do black and white photography and my medium is black and white male nudes. Being a gay man and an artist I feel compelled to share my personal growth story and communicate my experiences through my work. What it feels like to be seen, loved, looked and marvelled at, accepted or rejected and left alone in this world. What’s it like to feel unrequited love, unfulfilled desire and despair or fleeting moments of complete happiness. I’m always and utterly intrigued by the most basic of the basic human emotions. My images are nude studies that detach their subject from the traditional imagery of masculinity and how men are often portrayed and viewed in society and media. The men in my images tend to be soft, sensitive, sensual and poetic possessing a dream-like quality and they quite willingly position themselves to be looked at. Sometimes the figures are visibly distressed, disappointed, heartbroken and fragile. All qualities and emotions strongly part of one’s life and growth and the kind of masculinity I want to portray and make space for through my work. The photographic series IL ADORE is a personal journey into self, masculinity and sexuality. The dark, intense images and the characters in them are almost abstract mental landscapes that interact with each other as well as with their viewer. I wanted to create an intimate space around and inside the photographs that is sexual without being explicit. Lingering, sensual and sometimes suggestive. Often my love for cinema comes across in my work and my photographs are like still images from a movie. A single frame short story from an everyday scene. With and through my models I tell stories of my life and past experiences, actual and imaginary. Sometimes I rewrite my personal history and show and shoot scenarios that I wish had happened. I love spending time and exchanging experiences with my models and often their stories become inextricably intertwined with mine. Some of the men in my photographs are old acquaintances, some are new friends or collaborators, all equally important and much loved. Getting ready and setting up my shoots is a way to connect with people in a non-judgmental way. My artistic practice is the highest form of trust I have experienced in my life. I am forever grateful to these beautiful men that have allowed me to project my dreams and fears onto them and let me make visible what matters the most to me. As often in life personal themes criss-cross the social level. For my part, I want to take part in public debate on how to build a more equal society where everyone, regardless of sexuality or gender is welcome and can be themselves without fear. I believe that all of us have the right to our own private space, identity and sexuality without the interference of outside power.