In my own directed films I have been searching for different approaches to observe physical and emotional sensations that people experience in water environments. 

I studied Audiovisual Media Culture at the University of Lapland and graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 2017. Nowadays I work in media and film productions in various different roles such as cinematographer, screenwriter, director, production manager and editor.

My recent films Rajapinta (Surface) and Noora are about people who have found new ways to use their body and senses in a water environment. All of them have some kind of illness or disability. Beside directing during making these films I got valuable knowledge on how to manage the whole process of filmmaking step by step from screenwriting, making applications, independently arranging and planning film sets for filming and editing and lots more. 

My interest towards water themes started through my own personal experience. The sensation that I felt in my body was new and  intriguing. I continued my training and did my dive master training in 2006, got my first underwater camera set in 2007 and started filming underwater. I especially felt that filming underwater gave me such possibility over my control to film fully using my body and lungs that I haven’t reached on land. Until this day it is my biggest passion although I enjoy filming on land and in the air. Nowadays I have been focused on freediving as well.

One of the most memorable projects I’ve done was between 2016 and 2019 when I worked as a cinematographer and production manager for two planetarium films Meren Uumen and Itämeri. The films were made for the Finnish Science center Heureka and was directed by Pekka Veikkolainen and Hannes Vartiainen. The movies show the beauty of the complex underwater ecosystem and its creatures and brings up challenges that our oceans face today. These films have been filmed nearly completely underwater In the Indonesian archipelago, Tonga and in the Finnish Baltic Sea both in the summer and winter. They introduce their viewers from microscopic creatures to sea horses and Bryde’s whales by using a 360 degree camera.

Overall I have worked as a cinematographer and a photographer for various different underwater productions including film and tv productions, commercial, music video, marketing and teaching material. I have worked together with such movie companies as Leading Note pictures, Matila Röhr Productions, October Oy, Gimmeyawallet Productions Oy, Koski Syväri Oy, Aalto Yliopisto, Metropolia and Jyväskylän Yliopisto and co-operated with different artists.

Some of the latest projects I’ve been a part of included Katja Gaurilofs long feature fiction film Je’Vida where I worked as a cinematographer, I filmed the underwater parts for Sonata Arcticas music video ’For the Sake of Revenge’ and worked with Svante Gullichsen for his exhibition ’Behind my Back’ which was filmed in Estonia in an open quarry. In addition I’ve also been working on my own projects and films during recent years and filmed them almost entirely myself.

About me in media:

https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000009670755.html