Susanna Majuri

Early life

Majuri graduated from the Turku Art Academy in 2004 and holds an M.A. in photography from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki.

Career

In her photographs, Majuri captures short narrative scenes as though they were film stills of a story yet to be told. Her main characters, young women mostly, their faces hidden, give a distinct impression of being lost.

Majuri's personal artist statement, "My photographs can be seen as different places of emotions. I want to narrate feelings like in novels. I photograph strangers, they invoke my desire, and I ask them to come with me. I conceal my dreams and desires in images. Water paints with me; it merges the people and the landscapes together. Feelings can be revealed, but remain hidden. You can recognize these photographed places in your imagination. Mysteries will become your secrets, and I want to take you into your dreams. Here, in the images, my protagonists sing with tunes of joy and yearning. I borrow the words of the poet Tua Forsström: I said it was a dream, because I wanted to stay."

Majuri is known for taking ethereal and magical photographs, often with water as a key element of the composition. The north is another theme of her photographs both in a physical environment and a mental state. She is in the process of completing her doctoral studies on photographic fiction at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.

The 2007 Helsinki School book cover photograph is by Susanna Majuri. The featured photograph is called Elskar Fyr High Tide (2006) and is part of her series You Nordic. The photo is of a woman a woman in a red coat walking through the water towards a lighthouse in the distance. The You Nordic series consists of women in strange or absurd situations with a repeating color scheme - red against grayish-blue water, pools, or cottages. Each photo is a strange human situation juxtaposed against a bleak natural or environmental backdrop.

Majuri has had exhibitions in New York, Tokyo, and various places in Europe. She has won the photography prize Gras Savoye Award in Arles, France 2005 and is part of the photographic movement Helsinki School.

Her work has been shown in the following museum collections: Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, FI; The Finnish Museum of Photography, FI; EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art, FI; Helsinki City Art Museum, FI; Tampere Art Museum, FI; The Finnish State Art Collection, FI; The Museum Centre of Turku, FI; Artists’ Association of Finland, FI; City of Salo, FI; Kone Foundation, FI; RAY, FI; Pro Artibus, FI; Finnish Art Association, FI; Museum of Photography Tessaloniki, CR; Malmö Art Museum, SE; Song og Fjordane Kunstmuseum, NO; Zabludowitcz Collection, UK/US; Fundació Foto Colectania, ES; Kunst: Raum Sylt-Quelle, DE; Association de l’ENSP, FR; Statoil Collection, NO; Pieter and Marie Sanders collection,NL; Carl Gustaf Ehrnrooths collections, FI; Private collections in France, UK, USA, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Benelux-countries