VANTAG galeria: Inside Anja Niemi’s debut New York Exhibition

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Inside Anja Niemi’s debut New York Exhibition

The Pool House © Anja Niemi

Anja Niemi’s pristine-pop photography has been turning heads throughout Europe for some time. Through the vibrant use of colour and front-and-centre use of props and styling the artist creates carefully curated images that are part hyper-reality, part future-illusion that explore the female identity. Considering the role of women both in society and on film, Niemi’s subjects (often the photographer herself) are perfectly coiffed, immaculately styled and totally composed.
For Niemi’s debut exhibition in the USA at the Little Black Gallery pop-up space in New York, curators Andy Potamkin and Bethany Brady have selected images from the artist’s latest three series – Darlene & Me, Starlets and Do Not Disturb. We talked to Anja about tragi-comedy, femininity and her cinematic style.

The Taxidermist © Anja Niemi

Could you describe the worlds you’re trying to create with these three series?

I suppose what all of my last three series have in common is their polished surface and their tragi-comic twist. Life is filled with moments where humor blends into tragedy and ugliness into perfection, but we often seem to prefer them apart. In my work I try to create environments and characters where it all comes together.

How important is it for you to inject an idea of 'the self' into your work?

I do use myself in my work, but it´s not about me. I choose to play the part like anyone else would have done if I had hired someone. Having said that I think it’s important to be personal for the work to be readable and universal. I use myself and take from my own life, but I always trust that people are not seeing me when looking at them.

The Trunk © Anja Niemi

As well being the subject of your own images, you work as a photographer, stylist and director of your shoots. Why do you strive for this level of autonomy? and how do you manage it?

I am just more comfortable on my own and like to work without being self conscious. Also using myself I get to be as ruthless as I like. I can spend the whole day repeating the same pose and I would feel awful making someone else do that. It can get pretty ridiculous though, being photographer, subject and stylist at the same time. Especially when on roller skates dressed in a leotard, but these are the things that add the humour.

Which photograph of yours are you most excited to show at Five Eleven in New York? Why?

I tend to prefer the images I really enjoyed making like “The Garden Hose”. It was such a good day. I was alone at a Californian desert house playing out a fight with a garden hose, one character at a time. I got really into becoming angry and annoyed with someone that wasn’t there. The image is playful and humorous with a slight dark twist, the way I like it.

The Desert © Anja Niemi

Your work speaks about the role of the female and the way we process femininity, what comments are there to be made about the role of women in contemporary photography?

It’s hard to feel content when everyone’s beauty and happiness is constantly being flashed in our face. My characters strive for this perfection but find themselves repeatedly defeated. I think it’s important to lighten up and in my work I try to have a laugh about our shortcomings.

Many of your images, especially the Darlene & Me series suggest a very cinematic narrative, do you feel like you’re portraying a character?

Definitely, I could not do this as myself. Ironically I hate having my picture taken, it´s only in character I can get comfortable in front of the camera. My narrative stories are gradually becoming a bigger part of my work, and my next series is the first one were I am working from an actual script.

The Starlet © Anja Niemi

What is your favourite photograph from a recent exhibition or gallery you’ve seen?

I recently discovered the artist Hans-Peter Feldmann, and love his work “All the clothes of a woman”.

The Little Black Gallery presents Photographing In Costume by Anja Niemi from 2 March – 2 April 2016 at Burning In Water Gallery, 317 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011, curated with Andi Potamkin.