Portraits

These are intriguingly formal portraits of children the likes of which you will normally find among paintings. This is one of the reasons why these photo portraits will take you by surprise. Another reason is in the appraising gaze of the children portrayed: making a direct and conscious contact with the future viewer, the children reveal their pensive inner selves, far removed from their childhood play and naiveté. Finally, the photographs seem to hold no indicators of the day and age in which they were shot.
Nelli Palomäki, a Finnish fine art photographer, carefully constructed the photographs in order to lend timelessness to these portraits. Attention was paid to both costumes and hairstyles of children (all aged between 4 and 11).
"One hundred years ago it was something really special to be in the portrait," sighs the photographer, "I want to believe that it still is!"
The portraits featured are taken from the 'Elsa and Viola' series by Nelli Palomäki. In order of appearance, the portraits are titled: Dora (at 7), Julia (at 4), Julia (at 5), Elsa (at 10) and Viola (at 11).