Portraits of Nature is a photo exhibition featuring black-and-white film
photographs taken by Hanna Ojala. The images are completely
unretouched shots capturing seven people in connection with nature —
both their own inner nature and the natural world around them — directly,
blissfully, in the nude. The photos were taken across Finland during the
summer of 2025.
“If you could choose the place in this world to be born into, where would it
be?” I asked the people I photographed to consider this question.
Surprisingly quickly, each of them knew exactly where — and what — their
own “soul landscape” was. In that landscape, I had the privilege of
witnessing, camera in hand, as each person stripped everything away —
clothes, roles, expectations, goals, and shame — and simply surrendered to
a connection with nature and their own true nature. After an initial
moment of hesitation, the experience was remarkably similar for
everyone: time seemed to stand still; they felt liberated, relaxed, and
happy; their steps and hearts felt lighter yet fuller; and smiles came
easily.
Through my camera, I witnessed time and again just how incredibly
beautiful a person is when fully being themselves. I saw how the soul
emerges more powerfully through the body when one connects with
nature, and conversely, how — when one connects more deeply with
oneself — nature seems to embrace the human body with a unique
gentleness and intensity.
Where does human nature end and the
surrounding nature begin? Or are they, in the end, seamlessly one and the
same? When a human being is deeply connected to themselves — to their
own nature —t hey can sense that humanity is fundamentally a shared
experience, even though each person’s own form of expression is personal
and unique.
Elements of nature merge to form a whole that is greater and more
expansive than the sum of its parts. It is timeless, yet rooted firmly in the
present moment. It is something to be treated with appreciation and
respect; for without it, what remains of us — or for us? Technology,
artificial intelligence, and image or body manipulation are conspicuously
absent from this exhibition; what remains is a gently radical presence. We
are all here together, and ultimately, we are one.
I chose film photography as my medium because it requires both the
photographer and the subject to surrender, in a sense, to chance and the
moment — meaning neither party can fully control the final outcome. The
exhibition also serves as a loving rebuke to the incredibly rigid demands
and expectations of modern society; human beings, like nature itself, are
allowed to be beautiful in their own unique way — without being altered,
refined, or polished. Like our bodies, nature requires increasingly
resolute protection in this day and age—the freedom to exist undisturbed,
and to grow and evolve at its own pace and in its own way.
Naturally, the images take center stage, but — as in nature — the experience
is far from clinically silent. A soundscape blending nature sounds, human
voices and electronic music is something I created specifically for this
exhibition. This adds an experiential, immersive, and interactive
dimension to the exhibition, effectively highlighting connections — the
bond between nature and humanity, the dialogue with nature, and the
links between people. The exhibition also showcases a wide range of
facets of the Finnish natural landscape. The focus is not so much on the
human body itself, but rather on the connection between the landscape
and the body; consequently, every shot features not only a person but
also, specifically, Finnish nature.