The project began in the light of recent notorious geopolitical events, which deepened Jari Silomäki’s interest in how people sustain long-lasting relationships amid larger, often hostile historical forces. The war also affects the way we consume art, and photography in particular, a medium in which the human gaze lies at its very core.

In the portraits of childhood friends, people look into each other’s eyes across decades of shared life. As a photographer, Silomäki looks at them in turn. The gaze of a lifelong friend is deep and multifaceted: it becomes a means through which experiences and emotions are understood and communicated, while also evoking the passage of time, change, respect, and love.

In the scenes with young people, cityscapes are bathed in warm light. Here, feelings of togetherness and belonging are palpable. Shared experiences are essential to our understanding of the world; they emerge when individuals are capable of deep empathy towards one another. These warm urban scenes attempt to bear witness to such moments and share a similar emotional terrain with the portraits of older friends. For example, the image Silent Teenagers is juxtaposed with an image in which ripe, soft plums rest on cold, hard tarmac. Together, they evoke a narrative of time and fragility, laden with memory.

In this project, Jari Silomäki captures moments that visualise the symmetry of human feelings, either directly or symbolically. These include portraits of childhood friends, now over seventy years old, as well as scenes with young people whose shared, fragile experiences contribute to the formation of their identities.

“I have photographed moments that reveal a symmetry of feeling across generations, and show how human relationships begin and endure throughout life. The series brings together portraits of friends from their youth, now in their seventies, alongside young people whose fragile shared moments are shaping who they are and who they will become.”