Europea

Joakim Kocjancic, an Italian-Swedish photographer, creates work based on a direct and intuitive approach to everyday life. Born in Milan and raised between his two cultures, he settled in Stockholm after spending several years in various European cities. It was in this city—familiar to him through his family history but now foreign to him through his experiences of the world—that he began the series Paradise in 2006.

“After living in environments very different from that of Stockholm, I wanted to document the city’s somber atmosphere—that rugged aspect of daily life in the Far North. The result is a certain ambiguity in my perspective on a setting that is nevertheless familiar to me.

My approach to photography is direct and intuitive. Without overthinking, I try to be faster than my thoughts. Paradise evokes an illusion, a dream we pursue through billboards, television, and the Internet.

Film photography allows me to take the time to feel and reflect on this process. The moment of taking the photograph extends into the darkroom, where the creative work is at least as important as the moment the picture is taken.”
— Joakim Kocjancic