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Dear friend of mine helped my office work today. I had such a great day working with her. I am thankful to know such a person in my life.

After work I visited my son’s old kindergarten. The place has a special meaning for me. Somehow everyone there is so kind always and I have nothing but good memories of the place. The president of the kindergarten is really smart and kind man, he really has international mind, like a library of knowledge.

The nurses are all unique and kind people. I can imagine how they watch life flowing by them. It has been over nine years since I first visited the place. Tonight it was hard to hold back tears when I left.

My friend and model Tomoko visited me in Christmas Eve after many years. We have been taking pictures over many years. I remembered the path of photographer and model is a journey after all. Years do not change the invisible communication.

We were able to resume taking pictures like there was no break at all.

Thank you the woman in my pictures for making my winter a little a bit more gentle.

With E
2021 December

I took pictures of my friends in Tokyo.

Moriyama Daido insists that photography is not art but a kind of documentation or photocopying reality. But documents enrich our lives spiritually same way than art does. Photography makes me live more the same way as watching Tarkovsky film or Kawase Naomi’s movie. Documentary but fiction.

Of course what Moriyama means is that photography means capturing things that already exist rather than creating them from scratch. We live on a tightrope between journalism and fiction. If only journalism it is news, if only fiction it is a movie. Photo is a strange accidental creature.

Like Moriyama also feel this is what photography means for me. Photo must have a raw and uncontrolled element the lack of control that makes us small like a fragment of dust. We are not artists and we have no friends.

I do not like ”fine art photography”, especially ”classic European nudes. They objectify women’s bodies in vulgar way even though not showing much. For me Araki’s work has been always innocent and I cannot get enough of it. The true innocence doesn’t come from hiding, it comes from the real love and courage.

My dear friends. It has been a while.

I think it would be better for housewife (or househusband) to think of the daily grind of household tasks as a hobby. And then with passion do the things one loves.

The housework is hard and there is no salary. So I think the reward should be the freedom to do what one loves in the remaining time.

2021 Jaakko Saari

I made a new body of work called “Missing”. Those are photos from Finland mostly 2017.

Spring 2020