In Countryside, Almost in the City

Between 2008 and 2013, I researched the historical and social relationship between my family and the community of my home village Järvelä. Järvelä is located along the train track that has connected St. Petersburg to Helsinki for over a hundred years. The village has grown and settled to the area beacause of the Finnish industrialization main export wood. An old sawmill of Koskinen acts as a hearth to the local community and phases the rhythm of the villagers daily life.

The finished body of work was presented as a bachelor of arts final thesis for Lahti University of Applied Sciences in a form of a hand bound book compiled of two cyclically connected sections. The first part consisted of photos of my family, childhood friends who still live in the village, visitors, random residents and local places. In the second part written text was introduced, in which I aimed to construct a creative and multilayered structure combining short novels, factual writing and diary-like notes.