In Kelaranta’s work, the passages for identification and the scale are let to fade to the point where the photographs adopt elements of painting and drawing. The energy of the magical pictures derives from a combination of play and experimentation. Kelaranta’s works with found materials, such as twigs, thread, leaves, metal, plastic and paper creates quiet images that invite meditation. The round elliptic or triangle-like forms were the starting points for his exterminations in the early 1980s. He was the first of the Finnish photographers to do so. His pioneering efforts have inspired a whole movement which is still quietly active today. The figurative element is toned down to a minimum permitting the ascendancy of the interpretable. His work operates in the area of language, with its own laws where a combination of words and images are inseparable elements. Kelaranta like a poet, catches ideas as they are still fresh. His method grants space for chance and play, a certain balance between concentration and lightness.

Timo Kelaranta was born in Finland in 1951. He lives and works in Espoo. He graduated from the University of Art & Design Helsinki (now Aalto University – School of Arts, Design and Architecture) in 1975, where he has been teaching as a lector and professor throughout his career. Exhibitions include Universum, at Instituto Iberoamericano de Finlandia in Madrid (2017); Luz Silenciosa, at Fototeca de Cuba in Havana (2016); Universum at AMA Gallery in Helsinki (2016); The House of Poets, at Fotogalleriet in Oslo. His publications include, to name a few, The House of Poets (Kehrer Verlag 2014), Paratiisi novel (WSOY 2009) and The Quiets (Musta Taide 2006).