Eeva Karhu uses the photographic process of layering one image upon another to visualize the passage of time. In the manner of the repeated subject studies of Impressionist painters, she takes a photo every day at the same point of her path, compiling these photographs from one month or season to create a unique image. Karhu continues this process throughout the year, creating her own visual calendar of changes in nature. Recording both the time of her own movements and the longer cycles of nature, she explores the notion of perception and its fundamental links with space and time. She imbues her works with a vivid sense of movement, energy, and emotion, going beyond what is seen.
"I study this cyclic movement. I take part in it, by walking the same circle route during one year. While walking, my feet find the rhythm of the way. The camera is my eye. It captures moments between what I’m viewing and myself. I record the time that I will soon pass through while I experience the timelessness of its passing. By layering all these photographs together, they form one image that documents my journey, recording the time passing.”
Eeva Karhu (*1980 in Kirkkonummi, Finland) graduated from Aalto University in 2014. Karhu has exhibited internationally, such as at The Finnish Museum of Photography (Helsinki), the Europäische Kunstakademie e.V. (Trier, DE), the Raster Gallery (Warsaw), The Lahti Art Museum (Lahti, FI), and Purdy Hicks Gallery (London). Her works are part of international collections such as The Finnish State Art Collection, Statoil Art Collection (NO), and Collectión Olor Visual (ES), as well as numerous private collections. Karhu lives and works in Helsinki.