Finnish Theatre Photography and the Influence of Technology

ABSTRACT Finnish !eatre Photography and the In"uence of Technology Finnish Theatre Photography !is article is mainly based on interviews with three Finnish photographers’, Kari Hakli, Jalo Porkkala, and Petri Nuutinen’s as well as on the theatre photographs they have taken. !e criterion for selecting these three photographers has and the Inﬂuence of Technology been that their work spans a number of decades; therefore, the development of Finnish theatre photography can be studied from this perspective. !e theatre photograph is a photo of the stage image, which is often based on the dramatur- SUSANNA VIRKKI gy of the play script. !e subjects and points of view of the photographer are not generally agreed on in advance with the director or the actors, but they are based on the photographer’s own estimations and views. He/she interprets and transmits the performance to the audience with his images, and works in between the theatre and the spectator, but he is not the artistic producer when photographing, the performance is, i.e. he/she has not chosen lights, costumes or set design. !eatre performance is a complex art form. !e per- vious studies on theatre photographs are virtually Technology has had a signi$cant in"uence on the theatrical image and pho- formance, which is presented in the same premises, non-existent.1 tographic equipment. With the development of materials and equipment, the is the same every time and yet it is always unique. !is article starts with some theoretical re"ec- making of theatre photographs has shifted from a static process into a more It happens here and now. It is a unique work of art tions on theatre photography and after that a short dynamic one. Finnish theatre photography has reacted quickly to aesthetic at the time of the performance, but it will never history of Finnish theatre photography is presented trends in both theatre and photography. In the past it was possible to photo- be complete because the atmosphere of the perfor- to provide a context for the following discussion. graph only static or slow-moving objects in a set situation or in a pose. Today, mance changes and interacts with its makers and Finally, the work of the three Finnish photographers the photographer can move among the actors, photograph fast-moving objects the audience, i.e. presence and point of view of is analysed based on the theoretical and historical with a handheld camera using the stage lighting without the need for additional spectator(s) is of the utmost importance. context. lights. !e images look more as if they have been taken by an insider, someone In this article, I investigate theatre photography who belongs to the team, rather than by an intruder. !eatre photographs are and I have tried to answer the following questions: nowadays needed in the same way they have always been needed, as documents how does one photograph a theatrical performance, THEATRE PHOTOGRAPHY of the performance. how has technology changed photography and how !eatre historian Barbara Hodgdon writes the fol- has the function of theatre photography changed. lowing about the theatrical image: “!e theatrical Keywords: photography, theatre, technology, image, performance. !e article is mainly based on interviews with three still is the visible remains of what is no longer visi- Finnish photographers – Kari Hakli, Jalo Porkka- ble, a fragment that steals your theater, stills of it – la, and Petri Nuutinen – as well as analyses of their and dis-stills from it. Considered as performance in theatre photographs. !ese photographers have all pieces, the theater photograph undertakes a visual made signi$cant careers in theatre photography. conversation with performance: the silent, impov- BIOGRAPHY !e criterion for selecting these three has been that erishes, partial, it seizes appearances, violently severs their work spans a number of decades; therefore, the them from original context; inseparable from and Susanna Virkki has been working as teacher and tutor at the Open University development of Finnish theatre photography can be traversed by the lived experience of the theater, it of Turku, Summer University at West-Finland and Pori Art School since 2003, studied from this perspective. Photos of theatrical requires narrative, anecdote, to supplement it.”2 where she has taught art history, aesthetics and art philosophy. She obtained her performances can be said to have moved from their !e theatre photograph is a photo of the stage MA in Art History at the University of Turku in 2008, concentrating on theatre, active use and into a di#erent context. !at is to say, image, which is often based on the dramaturgy of photography, semiotics and visual culture. !e title of her thesis is Image, Word the photos have been transferred to the archives as the play script. !ey are usually taken at the dress and Space in !eatre. !eatre Photographs of the Performance Celebration and their documents and fragments of the past and have be- rehearsal, where stage circumstances are similar to Semeiotics Interpretation. She began her PhD studies at the University of Turku come an essential part of the evidentiary record. To the actual performance, and there are usually spec- in 2013. !e title of her PhD thesis is Illusion is Exposing. !eatre Photographs the researcher of theatre photographs the work will tators in the auditorium. !e photographer moves as Representations of the Performance. Together with photographer Jalo Porkkala, be challenging due to the vast scale and fragmented around on the stage and in the wings, observing. Virkki has published an exhibition programme Light - Space - Time. !eatre nature of the source material. A considerable num- !e subjects and points of view of the photograph photographs of 30 years for Poriginal gallery (Jalo Porkkala, Susanna Haltsonen: ber of theatre photographs are available, but most are not generally agreed on in advance with the di- www.blurb.com, 2009). of them have not been properly archived, and pre- rector or the actors, but are based on the photog- susanna.virkki@utu.% 60 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 26: no. 2 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 26: no. 2 61 rapher’s own estimations and views. S/he interprets void with meaning in which case the lack of signif- acknowledge that as documents, theatre photo- some photographers, to some extent, had already and transmits the performance to the audience with icance would be the place of signi$cance.6 A past graphs express their possible meanings in cultural started to orientate themselves towards the artis- his images, and works in between the theatre and performance is absent, so researchers do not have and symbolic codes. !ese codes include gestures, tic expression of their work. !is was mainly seen the spectator, but is not the artistic producer when direct access to it. To bridge this gap, documents are bodies, clothing, space and the conventions shown both in advertisements for photo studios and, in photographing, the performance is, i.e. s/he has not needed in order to be able to reconstruct and iden- in the images. All these combined a#ect the mean- the case of theatre photography, in the photographs chosen the lighting, costumes or set design. !ea- tify the performance. So, do the viewers and inter- ing of what, how and why. History is a part of the of di#erent theatres and individual performances.14 tre photography can be viewed and used, among preters of theatre photographs automatically have researcher’s process, but the researcher’s understand- In Finnish theatre journals, photographs with the other things, as documentation of the staging and prerequisites for identifying and understanding the ing is tied to the present day. In order to guarantee name of the photographer were used to introduce the theater director’s tool, portrait of the actor, as images? !e starting point, the $rst prerequisite, of the reliability and objectivity of the interpretation, the upcoming repertoire of the main theatres in an independent work of art, advertisement, or the all interpretation is that the interpreter must have the meaning must be returned to the dialogic in- Helsinki. In these magazines the photos were almost photographer’s own comment. the ability to see something as something, seeing as.7 teraction between the interpreter and the photogra- always connected to the photographer. Contrary to !eatre photography is like a stage, where the !e second prerequisite in the process is that the pher.11 !e meaning can also be returned to the cul- that, in newspapers the publicity photos of plays photographer, the production and its components, interpreter must be able to experience something as tural context in which interpretation takes place. In were often left without a reference to the photog- the viewer and, $nally, the user of the photograph, something previously encountered. William James the study of theatre photography, this could mean rapher.15 A few well-known theatre photographers meet. It is also a stage where the signs and meanings used the term ‘the sense of sameness’ to describe this that a criterion for the interpretations is to be sought noted the inferior status of theatre photographers are in an ongoing dialogue. !e theatre photog- kind of identifying.8 When studying theatre pho- either in the interpreter or in the dialogue between in the production process of the performances.16 In rapher thus works in-between the theater and the tographs researchers face an abundance of possible the interpreter and the object that is being interpret- the 1930s, the photo studios and the photographers spectator. With his camera and photographs, he in- interpretations. While looking at the images, the ed. In cases where the object of interpretation can- hoped to take pictures of artists in character as well corporates, exposes and snatches representations of researcher him/herself is a part of the historical pro- not be clearly explicated (e.g.

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