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FIAP EXHIBITION CENTRES FIAP EXHIBITION CENTRES

EXHIBITIONS AT THE FIAP EC About his exhibition Petri Damstén tells us:

AT THE CIMIR IN REUS IN 2023 “I was inspired for this series while listening to my favourite heavy-metal band, ‘Sentenced’. It
evolved into a collection of images from what could seem like the inside of a dark mind. All the
By Josep M Casanoves Dolcet, AFIAP, ESFIAP destructive thoughts that circulate in your brain and the feelings that can demoralise you. The
Director of the FIAP EC at the CIMIR in Reus, Catalonia, dark room inside your own head. After starting to post the images on the net, comments began
Spain to appear saying that some of these images reminded other people of their own thoughts.
Above all, the feeling of isolation caused by COVID 19 brought to the surface for many people.
This series is a continuation of my work on images dealing with mental health issues. In 2009
I was forced to retire from my job due to depression. Since then, photography has played an
important role in my life as therapy. Many people might think that images as dark as these
make you relapse, but it’s the opposite. And here we return to the heavy-metal band, Sentenced,
whose songs started this series. They often had
very dark and emotional lyrics. After the band had
retired, I read that several fans told them that their
songs had saved their lives.”
For more information you can visit his
Exhibition Centres From the Dark Room Exhibition by Petri Damstén Exhibition Centres
website: https://petridamsten.com/

Since the creation of our Exhibition Centre, we have tried to show works by authors who work
in the most varied fields of photography, from photojournalism to creative and more innovative
and daring proposals. Our purpose goes a little further than presenting simple exhibitions of high
photographic quality. We want to offer visitors a more didactic vision of photography, showing the
infinite creative possibilities or reflection of the reality that surrounds us through the noble art of
photography from the particular point of view of each photographic artist that we invite to exhibit
in our FIAP Exhibition Centre.

The 2023 exhibitions were:

The Dark Room by Petri Damstén, Finland

Petri Damstén is a dark and nerdy photographic artist from Kuopio, Finland. His passion for
photography began after he retired from his job as a software engineer and now he explores the
darker side of life through his art. His images are often moody, surreal and disturbing, with the self-
portrait playing an important role in his work. That is why he has experience both behind and in front
of the camera. Petri has won numerous awards for his photography in Finland and internationally,
including being a finalist at Fotofinlandia and receiving the PX3 Gold award in Paris, France. In 2022
he obtained the Master title of the International Federation of Photographic Art, MFIAP, with the
collection “The Dark Room” that we now present.
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