The Dark Room

• Photographer
  Petri Damsten
• Prizes
  Gold in Portfolio/Fine Art, 2nd Place winner in Portfolio

I got my first inspiration for this series while listening to my favourite metal band, Sentenced. It evolved to 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. After I began to put images online, comments that said some of these images remind them of their own thoughts started to appear. Especially feelings that the covid-19 isolation has brought to the surface for many people.

Petri Damstén is a photographer, digital artist and nerd from Kuopio, Finland. The passion for photography started after he retired from his day job as a software engineer. He explores the dark side of life in his art. Images are often moody, surreal and distressing. Self-portraiture has always played a big part in Petri’s pictures. So he has experience of being behind the camera as well as being in front of it. He has won many awards in Finland and internationally, including Fotofinlandia finalist and PX3 Gold in Paris, France.