Stranger

The Stranger project includes photographs in which the artist Mari Mäntynen appears with strangers. Each picture is taken during the first encounter with the new person. They immediately step in front of the camera without getting to know each other. The underlying idea of the photos suggests: We are each other’s environment.

What is being together without structures? During the image-making process, Mäntynen challenges social norms with strange people and they ask each other: Can we touch each other? What can we do together? How do we position ourselves in the photo? The images and poses are created in collaboration with the subject. After the photo is taken, there is time to settle and to talk about the experience, each other and look at the photographs.

The Stranger series is ongoing, and Mäntynen is constantly producing more images.

Mari Mäntynen (1997) is a Finnish visual artist born and raised in Kerava’s prison area. Mäntynen completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki in 2025. Mäntynen’s works are in the collections Museum of Visual Arts Malva, as well as in private collections. In 2026, her works will be seen at the Fotofestiwal in Lodz, as well as at the Vantaa Art Museum Arts, among others. The works are participatory and Mäntynen also appears in them herself. Her artistic work focuses on the question: How could we understand each other better?