the-dark-room | Petri Damstén

I got this idea from a friend. I immediately checked the net for used boxing gloves and found these really nice looking old ones for a nice price. The poster was designed in photoshop and added later. I already had that in mind when shooting, so I had the image ready. The old paper texture...

This one took some editing time. I made the hole from XPS foam and added several textures to it. Skeleton hands were taken individually using my full-size skeleton. I could have done the broken rope when shooting but the idea arrived at me when editing. So I cut and unthreaded the rope and shot it...

Hanging by a Thread

For the props, I had to go to the storage at the end of our building to find the old Finnish army helmet that I have not used for a long time. The words from the 1984 book were a perfect fit for the theme of this image so I added them as a poster...

I made this cross with strings for the life of an artist series. I just removed the “flags” and it was ready for this image. I was first thinking about hooks like in real body suspension but decided to go to a more surreal route by ropes blending to the body. You are like a...

During the shoot, I noticed I did not have made the hood for this idea. I quickly made it from an old bedsheet with textile glue and the shoot could continue. Bullet holes were made later to my favourite building material, the XPS foam. It feels like you are at the front of the firing...

The column is a 30-year-old deodorant bottle that I found from the drawers. The scale was spot on for the 1:6 scale models that I have been using in this series. I would have used it anyway but it was a happy accident. Heart and the glass dome are 1:1 scale and were on a...

Preserved Heart

I made this image without the clock and it was so low balanced that I didn’t like it. I left the image and started thinking if there is anything to add. Doomsday clock seemed to fit the theme and I found this clock from the personal stock I have gathered over the years (phone capture...

I have used these theatrical masks before. I like the look and symbolism that they have, so I keep using them. They were a bit unattached to the image, so I sent the image to a couple of other photographers for an opinion. After the discussion, smoke was added to tie things up. It is...

The Comedy and Tragedy

I got this idea when making the three monkeys image. I thought that clouds might look good on the sides. The idea went to the sketchbook and I took the shot in the later shoot. All you hear is silence. All you feel is numbness. All you see is emptiness.

Sound of Silence

I had heart-shaped balloons but I guess they were old since they did burst when I tried to blow air into them. Well, it was quite easy to edit the normal balloon to look like one. So much cry. So much pain. Still missing you, my only one.

Last of the XPS miniatures used in these images. This time the bathtub of stone. I was sitting on our balcony in 2019 and looked at the sky. It was a good cloud day, so I fetched my camera and took about one hundred cloud images during the day. Images are used as brushes or...

The endless rain

I just love using masks in my images. You just can use them in so many ways to tell stories. And for this image, there is plenty of them. Again a different role for today. Too scared to be yourself. Playing something you think others want to see. But it is just your empty shell.

Roles I Have to Play

Another photo with Frank the skeleton. This time he got the dress on and the bomb from the old picture. Trust you seek but shall not find. The riddle near you will hunt you down.

This was one of the first ideas for this series. I was thinking between the hourglass and the alarm clock but the alarm clock with the number 13 won. Trying to stop the time? It is useless. You got what you got. It is how you use it.

Angel character can be found in many religions. As an atheist myself I don’t have religious views for it. For this image, I see it as a vulnerable human being whose wings are easily broken in today’s unforgiving world. This idea came from Stam1na’s song title “Enkelinmurskain” (Angel Crusher) and I mean the title only....

DIY Photography: The Dark Room Photo Project Mixes Life-size Models with 1:6 Scale Diy Props Petapixel: The Dark Room: Shooting a Series with Life-Size Models and 1:6 Scale Props

The Dark Room featured in…

I stood on a couple of wooden blocks here. Even then I had to take most of the images without the mask since it was too much for my balance. I have only one cube so this image had to be made from several images anyway. You are hanging by a thread and trying not...

Photoart project mixing life-size models, 1:6 scale props and digital backgrounds. I was listening to my favourite band Sentenced and their album “The Cold White Light”. While listening I started thinking “Should I make images from the songs in my favourite album?”. Well, that was the original plan in February 2020. Now ideas have gone...

The Dark Room: The Story

For this image, I made a thin PVC pipe to look like a bigger pipe using paints and 3D printed bolt rings. The shit just keeps on coming. It’s poured on you day after day. Like an endless diarrhoea keeping you down on your knees.

Pour shit down your neck

Another image with 1:6 scale prop. This time XPS foam chair. Nails are real old nails and the helmet is a kitchen bowl. Conduits are a shower hose attached with a magnet to the bowl. I am starting to like this combination of 1:1 and 1:6 size props and how well they fit together. Those...

Haunting Thoughts