Tuomas Uusheimo

FALLEN ANGELS

Introduction Works

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM Tuomas Uusheimo

FALLEN ANGELS

The gods circle the heavens at night, governing events on as they pass. Observers of the starry skies have been watching events in the firmament for thousands of years, and every once in a while they see gods descending to Earth in fiery flames.

Many cultures have interpreted lights in the firmament as manifestations of the gods. Some four thousand years ago, early stargazers in ancient Mesopotamia noticed that the passage of the gods across the skies could be predicted. This was the birth of observational astrology.

Although the movements of the stars have been observed and recorded for millennia, heavenly events have also been associated with stories. Bolts of lightning were seen as weapons hurled by gods in Finland as well as in Greece, where Zeus was often depicted with a thunderbolt in his hand, while in Iran the god of the heavens wielded a club to smite his enemies. The God of the Old Testament may of course have also hurled thunderbolts onto sinners.

Sometimes the blow from a god reached all the way down to earth. raining down from the skies were even more awe-inspiring than thunderbolts. One that struck the ground over two thousand years ago in Saaremaa, Estonia, may have left traces in The Kalevala, where in a song “the heavens are burst asunder” and a “red-ball” rushes down through nine starry vaults. According to a story from the other side of the Earth, the black stone of Kaaba descended from heaven and the sins of mankind turned it black from its original brilliant white.

The idea of meteorites as fallen angels recalls the early days of human religious experience. In the monotheistic tradition, Satan was originally a beautiful angel who was cast down from Heaven, burning on his way down and becoming black and ugly – like a luminous shooting star that is reduced to a black lump of stone by the time it reaches the ground. Yet some of its heavenly beauty may remain in the forms and structures of the stone if we look close enough.

Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Helsinki University

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM Fallen Angels are portraits of meteorites collected from around the globe. The subjects of my photographs are moulded by time, the laws of nature and chance. Two durationally extreme timelines can be discerned in this process: the formation of the objects in space over billions of years, and their sudden metamorphosis as they strike the atmosphere and finally fall to the Earth.

The temporal and spatial dimensions of these events are very difficult to grasp within the sphere of our finite human time. I wanted to photograph the objects in my own artificial space, as part of something enormous and infinitely old.

Tuomas Uusheimo (b. 1973) studied photography for a short period at the Rhode Island School of Design. He also holds a degree in architecture from the Helsinki University of Technology. In 2009 he started working as a photographer full time. Since then he has worked as an artist photographer as well as on architectural, editorial and commercial assignments for Finnish and international journals and design agencies. He has exhibited his work in group shows in Finland, Croatia, China, Tunisia and the United States.

Acknowledgements:

Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila Architect Jarkko Kettunen Arts Promotion Center Finland

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM

Chelyabinsk, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120cm

Toluca, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120cm

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM

Northwest Africa unclassified, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120cm

Kaali järv, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120cm

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM

Fallen Angels at Lasipalatsi Gallery in Helsinki 9.1 – 26.1.2014

Fallen Angels at Lasipalatsi Gallery in Helsinki 9.1 – 26.1.2014

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM Tuomas Uusheimo FALLEN ANGELS

Works edition sold

1. Northwest Africa unclassified, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 6+ 2 ap

2. , 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 5 + 2 ap

3. Chelyabinsk, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 6 + 2 ap (2)

4. Kaali järv, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 6 + 2 ap (2)

5. Millbillillie, 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM

6. Bjurböle 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap

7. Jbilet Winselwan, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 6 + 2 ap (2)

8. , 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 5 + 2 ap (1)

9. Northwest Africa 8095, 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap

10. Canyon Diablo, 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap (1)

11. Sikhote Alin, 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap (1)

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM

12. Katol, 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap

13. Salla, 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 6 + 2 ap

14. , 2013, Diasec, 90 x 120 cm 5 + 2 ap (1)

15. Northwest Africa 6963 (Martian), 2013, Diasec, 45 x 60 cm 5 + 2 ap

PHOTOGRAPHER TUOMAS UUSHEIMO HELSINKI TEL 358 44 5893600 [email protected] WWW.TUOMASPHOTO.COM