Misunderstood On Purpose
Ongoing photo book project
Misunderstood On Purpose is a photo book project about the happiest country in the world, Finland. The project focuses on events that happen by chance while moving around Finland without a pre-determined goal or schedule. The project began when I worked at Helsingin Sanomat between 2015 and 2019, making bodies of work about the details of Finnishness. During that time, Finland was mentioned several times as the happiest country in the world in the UN Happiness Report. I noticed people wondering about the title and I decided to make a work on the subject. Misunderstood On Purpose is a story about Finland that seeks to look at the need for a Happiness Report and create an image of Finland by questioning it. The title of the happiest state is awkward, because by referencing to it, the challenges of society can be ignored.