Interview With Petri Damstén From Finland

I'm a self-taught photographer. I would say YouTube has been the biggest source of information for me.

My first shot with DSLR was our backyard lights in wintertime.

For 'The Dark Room' series, I used Nikon D850. My main camera currently is a Fuji GFX 50s with a couple of lenses.

Photography and art are also therapy for me. I hope this keeps me in better mental health and gives meaningful doing to my life.

When a photograph has touched somebody deeper. That can be a negative feeling too. I have said that I rather get a comment "that's awful" than "nice" since in the first case image gave the viewer a stronger feeling and hopefully something to think about.

I get inspiration from many places. Music and lyrics have been a big inspiration source. 'The dark room' series also started from the lyrics of my favourite band Sentenced.

Dark, moody, surreal

Winning an award in a big competition is a big thing for me. It gives a big boost to continue with my art.

I got my first inspiration for this series while listening to my favourite metal band, Sentenced. It evolved into a collection of images of what a dark mind might look like from the inside. All the destructive thoughts that circulate in your brain and feelings that bring you down. The dark room inside of your own head.

When I finish a bigger project like this, I usually upload it to several photography competitions to get some feedback on how others see it.

Awards have given me the confidence to pursue my art to get better in what I do.

Juha Arvid Helminen, Brooke Shaden, Joel Grimes

Not sure if there is a single piece of advice. My friend helped me a lot in studio lighting and photo editing. Sometimes it was even painful and took a lot of work but it paid off in the end.

That is hugely dependent on what kind of photography somebody is after. With photography art, I would say do your own thing and don't let others say what you should do. That being said you should also not be blind to constructive criticism when it's appropriate.

Probably somebody else could answer this better. I don't try to please anybody, but doing my own thing with topics that are sometimes really hard might be something to do with that.

I think I was born with curiosity built in. I have always been interested to learn things and I like to also get information from outside my comfort zone.

“I like to make people a little uncomfortable. It encourages them to examine who they are and why they think the way they do.” — Sally Mann, American photographer