JOEL KARPPANEN

Blue Collars (originally exhibited under titled Beyond Pitkäsilta (Metropolis)) (2021–2023) concludes my Finnish trilogy that has previously included Finnish Pastoral (2016–2017) and Common people songs (2017–2020). 

I have photographed a transforming Helsinki that is no longer divided by Pitkäsilta but where class divides still exist. The proletarians of our time, food couriers, deliver artisan pizza to brand new skyscrapers. For a year, I documented a Czech food courier Krystof who is my age and a visual artist by his real profession. As part of the process, I worked as Krystof’s subsitute. Today we are friends.