Valentino in Rome: Light at the Heart of the City's Darkness

Modern Roman princess: golden gladiator sandals and a dress decorated with wheat sheaves captures a sense of Rome's ancient and contemporary beauty and excess.

Valentino’s evocative haute couture collection shown in Rome’s historic heart at Piazza Mignanelli was set against the scenic backdrop of Renaissance palazzi and the great column of the Madonna of the Immaculate Conception. The atmospheric show offered light, beauty and opulence amid the unkempt Eternal City's current woes of near bankruptcy and an internecine corruption scandal, reports Jeanne-Marie Cilento

ROMAN sylphs clad in floating black, red and golden gowns adorned with filigree coronets and elaborate parures, strolled through Valentino’s haute couture Autumn/Winter 2015 show at twilight in Piazza Mignanelli. Artist Pietro Ruffo designed a wooden, modernist confection of the Roman Forum as a backdrop to the majestic collection by Valentino's award-winning creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Maria Grazia Chiuri & Pierpaolo Piccioli
 

"Rome is a very layered city, a very sinister city, it’s not a postcard,” Mr. Piccioli said. “And all the layers are still there: paganism, Catholicism, imperialism, baroque. It’s a balance that is entirely unique. We wanted to show Rome as living history.”

The beautiful spectacle in Piazza Mignanelli, along with exhibitions of Valentino creations in the 18th-century Casanatense library and the Bath of Diana, were held in a city wracked by the Rome Commune’s Mafia Capital scandal, struggles with bankruptcy and crumbling public services. 

The corruption investigation has engulfed Rome's city hall, housed in a Renaissance palace designed by Michelangelo overlooking the ruins of the ancient Roman forum. The probe and the first wave of arrests have rattled Italy, suggesting organised crime is flourishing far beyond its base in Southern Italy. 

Collapsing under 14 billion euros ($15.5 billion) of debt, Rome was only saved from complete bankruptcy by emergency state funds. Today, the ancient stony streets of the centro storico are dim, grimy and pot-holed, making a strong contrast to the sleek new Valentino store in Piazza Mignanelli, the brand’s largest retail space in the world at more than 20,000 square feet.

Pierpaolo Piccioli: "Rome is a very layered city, a very sinister city, it’s not a postcard. All the layers are still there: paganism, Catholicism, imperialism, baroque."

Tilda Swinton and Mika attend

the Valentino show in Rome

This type of fashion extravaganza has not been in the city seen since Valentino Garavani, founder of the Valentino fashion house, celebrated its 45th anniversary in Rome in 2007 with a retrospective at the Museo dell’Ara Pacis, a ball at the Villa Borghese, and a dinner and fireworks at the Temple of Venus. 

Ms. Chiuri and Mr. Piccioli became creative directors of the brand six years ears ago and have skillfully brought their own aesthetic to Valentino. “Everything is so global now, we think it’s very important to be personal,” Mr. Piccioli said. “We feel a social responsibility to this job,” Ms. Chiuri added. “We can’t talk only about clothes."

Artist Pietro Ruffo designed a wooden, modernist confection of the Roman Forum as a backdrop to the majestic collection by Valentino's joint creative directors 

A deep red gown in silk crepe

Yet the designers have beautifully and skillfully captured both the discipline and rigor of design in ancient Rome and the extravagant folly of the 16th Century baroque in a collection full of chiaroscuro: strong contrasts of light and dark all worn with flat gladiator sandals and boots in black or gold, and golden necklaces, belts and crowns and the motif of the eagle. 

"We love Rome's beauty, its contrasts, its multiple facets, its ability to change in time and to project itself into the future,” explains Maria Grazia Chiuri. Long, draped gowns in semi-transparent organza or shimmering velvet were mixed with curvilinear wool capes with pure lines and brocade trim, and short dresses created from intertwined golden feathers and wheat fronds. Cardinal Red organza dresses with full skirts under sheer tops and sleeveless gladiatorial gowns of silk crepe under embroidered gold leather. 

Maria Grazie Chiuri: "We love Rome's beauty, its contrasts, its multiple facets, its ability to change in time and to project itself into the future.” 

The designers with actor Ben Stiller

 at the candlelit dinner at Villa Aurelia

The eagle, the symbol of the Roman legions was used throughout the collection. A painting Mr. Piccioli and Ms. Chiuri uncovered while renovating their atelier in Rome was recreated on velvet. The great domed ceiling of the Pantheon was embroidered almost three-dimensionally onto an asymmetric caped minidress while other gowns were made in a brocade of mosaics.

After the dramatic show in Piazza Mignanelli close to the Spanish Steps, the designers were given a standing ovation.

The great and the good of fashionable Rome along with guests including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson sat down to a candle-lit, romantic dinner set under the trees of the gardens at the 17th-century Villa Aurelia. Looking out over the Eternal City, the lights are still twinkling despite the dark tremors at its heart.

Scroll down to see more highlights from the collection in Rome

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli created long, fluid dresses evoking a dark and fragile poetry.

A draped, flowing dress like an ancient Roman statue of a goddess with opulent embellishments in opaque gold.

Embroidery with metallic thread adorns this gown creating a three dimensional effect 

Delicate, beaded dress falling in long vertical folds of organza with a richly-sculpted necklace and fine gold coronet of stars and bees.

Alessandro Gaggio’s jewellery adds an element of drama to the regal looks including the stars of the Altieri family and the bee representing the Barberini.

For the Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2015-16 collection creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli wanted to show a Rome full of both opulence and a dark beauty.

The designers also wanted to express the essence of Rome in the collection through the quality of the materials and textures and create a "multisensory" experience like this dress in lace and feathers.

Long organza dresses in Cardinal red with sheer tops and full skirts were one of the key motifs in the collection

The leather folds of ancient Rome's soldiers are cleverly reworked to create a long gladiatorial gown embroidered in red and black.

The great domed ceiling of the Pantheon replicated as embroidery, almost three dimensionally, on a caped minidress. "With the Valentino Mirabilia Romae project we wanted to depict through our eyes the beauties of the city of Rome, a constant source of inspiration for us ~ both the ancient and the new," say designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

As light as air, the Valentino evening gowns subtly reveal and conceal the body

Unexpected contemporary detailing gave the collection a richness and depth and a sense of modernity.

Golden wheat sheaves give this splendid evening dress a connection to the symbolism of Rome.

A dramatic fall of Cardinal red drapery across one shoulder links the dress back to the flowing folds of ancient Rome's clothes 

 Diaphanous gowns with fine embroidery are cinched at the waist by delicate gold belts

New Fashion Trends: Mens Collections Spring/Summer 2016

 David Gandy wears one of the key trends seen on the catwalk this SS16 season, the bomber jacket in soft suede. Photography by Mike Rolls

As the Spring/Summer 2016 men’s shows come to a close for the season,  London Collections: Men has become, in just a few short years, one of the most anticipated events on the menswear fashion calendar along with Milan, Paris and New York, Limor Helfgott reports

 All suited up in London, David Gandy out and about.
Photo by Scott Wilson

THIS season there was such a broad spectrum of looks for men ranging from the sharp tailoring of long established London brands to quirky styles and streetwear from emerging design talents. There were a few key trends that we noted on the men's runways that stood out in London in contrast to the shows in Milan and Paris. We round up some of the summer essentials for men with some tips on how to wear them. Shirts off? Revealing designs that showed off men's chests on the catwalk were one of the  strong looks this season. Rory Parnell-Mooney at the MAN collection had tops with angular peep holes exposing model’s torso.


American jocks featured at Sibling.
Photo By Limor Helfgott

However, it was Sibling that took the trend to a whole new level. It was a fun show with sassy cheerleaders and American jocks taking to the catwalk, inspired by Kehinde Wiley’s portraits of the modern man. The collection featured tailored suits (a surprising addition for Sibling) made of luxury fabrics alongside male models bearing their abs and wearing laced corsets, front-tied tiny briefs over leggings and attention grabbing pants with cut out holes at the back. It was athlete meets mod and the arrogant jocks on the catwalk joined female cheerleaders, emphasising the American culture. A lot of the collection is not wearable but certainly we will see lace detailing in men’s fashion. The rise of the Man clutch 
One of the standout trends among the street style looks and fashion show attendees was the man clutch as a practical yet stylish accessory that is clearly replacing the man bag, the backpack or the heavy holdall. On the catwalks the interpretation was quite different, proving that sometimes form wins over function.


Patent flats and hanging metal
 manbags at J.W Anderson 

A good example is the J.W. Anderson collection, Boy in Space, that had a feminine aesthetic. Partly inspired by David Bowie, the collection played with gender, just like the legendary pop star. J.W Anderson presented coiled-metal structured bags with hanging utilities such as bottle openers and key chains that were teamed with an 80’s vibe such as over sized collars on shirts, leather trench coats and high-waisted trousers. The models wore patent red scarlet flats that definitely stood out and gave the finishing touch to the overall feminine look.


Big rucksacks & bags  at Christopher Raeburn.
Photo by Limor Helfgott

Whereas designer Christopher Raeburn took inspiration from the island of Borneo featuring large orangutan rucksacks.

These were a striking new interpretation of his animal bags and a percentage of each bag sold will be donated to the Orangutan Foundation.



The lacy collection at Burberry Prorsum
with the new Barrow bag

Burberry’s CEO and creative director, Christopher Bailey, presented a lace-inspired collection for men for his SS16 collection with a strong accessory range including the Barrow: a men’s document case with a high-shine patent leather finish in different materials and colours. There were also alligator document folders and raffia clutches teamed with Scottish cashmere scarves, bug tie pins and tassel loafers. 


 Henry Holland with his first menswear
collection: sporty yet tailored. 

Prints and TechnicolourPrints and patterns were strong looks at the last Autumn/Winter 2015 collections. This season they were loud, lively and often made up of an eccentric mix of colours and designs.


House of Holland, a previously exclusively women’s clothing brand, launched its first menswear collection this season. Designed by Henry Holland, in collaboration with photographer Martin Parr, the colourful and fun collection fused sportswear in technical fabrics with more traditional tailoring techniques.

 James Long's stylish collection with touches of neon.
Photo by Dan Sims

Influenced by ’90’s rave culture, a standout look in the collection was a matching two-piece yellow tracksuit. Dizzingly patterned bold prints in clashing colours were a big part of the new collection. Kit Neale’s show mixed psychedelic patterns with vivid colours and clashing prints. Splashes of lime green and yellow, pink and blue and silks in burnt orange and red. Accessories included lavish Bernstock Sperids 90's bucket hats and earrings. 



Alexander McQueen's show featured nautical motifs.  
Photo by Shaun Cox

Creative freedom was at the heart of James Long’s SS16 collection with paisley prints and bright colours. Outstanding pieces included a wonderful denim patchwork jacket, sweatshirts and trackpants emblazoned in a neon scribble print especially drawn by James Davison.
The Alexander McQueen collection, inspired by The Tempest and Rime of the Ancient Mariner, moved further away from last season’s painterly themes to more geometric designs with a nautical motif. “It was about the idea of being at sea and having a sense of belonging there, of identifying yourself through the sea,” said Sarah Burton, the brand's creative director. Nautical tattoo motifs were incorporated onto suits and jackets with classic men’s silhouettes. Pieces included slim-fitting dinner jackets, pyjama-style shirts, asymmetric knitted sweaters and suits patterned in ship’s camouflage. While prints and embellishments were key to the collection, the colour palette was quite a subtle one including black, off-white, navy blue, aqua and orange.


The bold, oriental collection by Xander Zhou.
 Photo by Liron Weissman

The East has arrived Oriental silhouettes and prints were a key theme this season, including the bold collection of Beijing-based menswear designer Xander Zhou: “The East has arrived. Salute and embrace it,” he declared.

The designer explored symbols and signs and presented unexpected twists using Chinese embroidery: felt biker jackets decorated with silk flowers and contrasting quilted pockets in a digital print. While eastern inspiration was very evident, the expression of London street style in the 80’s was also a part of the designer’s inspiration, proving once more that it is as much relevant now as it was then.


 Wearing the trends 
A key material this season was the use of suede in many of the collections. A good suede jacket will be a wise investment this year and always adds a luxurious feel to an outfit whether it is biker, bomber or anorak in style. Even though outerwear wasn’t a big part of the spring summer collection, in places like London jackets are still a part of our wardrobe even in June. In the front rows of the LCM fashion show, Nickolas Grimshaw, Tinie Tempah and David Gandy, were all spotted wearing suede. 


Street style: vivid pattern.
Photo by Liron Weissman

Prints and Patterns 
Up until a few seasons ago, it was all about being minimal in menswear, preferably in a flat range of white, black and grey. But it is obvious now that prints are here to stay. One thing that is making its way back to the men’s wardrobe is the graphic t-shirt. Always an easy way to make a statement, many designers are creating t-shirts to emphasise their collection’s theme and to express themselves. Wearing prints is one of those looks that needs to be worn with caution. To work this trend into your everyday wardrobe try to wear one piece with large patterns rather a cacophony of styles. If you do decide to mix patterns, as seen on the catwalks, try to make sure the prints contrast but complement each other: pair motifs that differ either in pattern or tone but not in both. 


Socks made a comeback at Sibling SS16.
Photo by Limor Helfgott 

 Socks are back! 
For the last few seasons, we could see the “mankle” everywhere – and it was becoming acceptable wearing formal footwear with no socks.
Plus cropped trousers. Spring/Summer 2016 sees the return of the sock. This could be seen at the Lou Dalton and Christopher Raeburn and even socks and sandals were on the runway at Margaret Howell.


Suit, pattern & colour on Kadu Dantas.
Photo: Scott Wilson 

 For a bolder, fun look, wear a pair of colourful socks. As always, we can’t wait to see how the trends of this season will translate into our everyday wardrobe. The street style looks showed a lot of the trends, mixing up patterns and bright colour along with classic looks such as the stylish British tailored suit as worn by David Gandy and Kadu Dantas. 

We will leave you with one last styling tip -  the SS16 suit has a real individuality and an element of eccentricity and a more casual form instead of being formal and traditional. Add a dash of colour in the choice of tie, cravat or textile broach and choose a subtle checked or striped pattern for the suit itself. Add a dashing sun hat and a pair of retro sunglasses and you have an outfit for every summer occasion. See you next season!

The Art of Glass at Verreum: Designers Sacha Walckhoff and Arik Levy

Sacha Walckhoff, Creative Director at Christian Lacroix, in Milan with his new collection of glasses and vases for Verreum. “I called it Reverso because at the start of a dinner you use the glass and when the coffee arrives you turn it upside down and there is a coffee cup ready for use!" Photograph by Mariangela Curci

Shimmering amid flowers, berries and leaves, Verreum’s glass collection by the world’s top designers includes the clever Reverso by Sacha Walckhoff and Arik Levy’s curvaceous Drops vases reports Jeanne-Marie Cilento. Photographs by Mariangela Curci & Paul McDonnell

PAVEL Weiser, founder and CEO of Verreum, speaks passionately about design and the great tradition of Czech glass manufacturing. Six years ago, the dynamic entrepreneur decided to build on that history and founded a new glass-making company. “The name Verreum was created from two words: verre meaning glass in French and um signifying craftsmanship in Czech,” he says. Weiser explains he wanted to revive glass-making craftsmanship, focusing particularly on silvered glass production, a technique that has been almost lost for more than half a century.



Sacha Walckhoff and Pavel Weiser at the Verreum show in Milan

“We re-invented this forgotten technique, mixing tradition and different technologies to create a new design language. Today, we make vases, glasses, bowls, lamps, candlesticks and furniture pieces. We like to collaborate with both Czech and international designers to create our products using highly skilled craftsmen from glass manufacturing areas in Nový Bor, Northern Bohemia. This is a famous production centre for Czech glass and we want to sustain the Bohemian glass making tradition.”

Arik Levy & the Jupiter night lights at the Milan exhibition

Sacha Walckhoff first met Weiser a year ago during his presentation at the Wallpaper Handmade event in Milan. “We kept in touch and last summer he came back to me as he was building a team of designers for his brand,” Sacha Walckhoff says. “Sebastian Herkner was appointed as the new artistic director and he wanted new ways of expressing the Verreum skill. I was immediately seduced by the idea of working with glass and travelled to Novy Bor in the Czech Republic where I was amazed by the art of blowing glass by the masters working for Verreum. I even tried to blow one piece  ~ what an experience!

“The idea of Reverso was partly inspired by the blown glass going up in the air and then down into the fire or water. It is like a dance with the sounds of the elements as a background track ~ the fire, the water, the steam!" The master glass-makers at Novy Bor create Verreum’s designs by a blowing cane, picking melting glass from the crucible, lifting it up and sprinkling it with water and finally lodging it into an oak cast to blow it into the final shape. “This ballet with pure matter inspired me to design five glasses and three vases for Verreum,” says the designer.

Drops orchid vase, Maly glasses by Sebastian Herkner & Reverso vase

Paris-based designer and artist Arik Levy created the Drops collection of rounded vases made specially for orchids and cacti. Levy says he remembers the fascination he felt when he saw drops of mercury leaking out of a broken thermometer. "I was always fascinated with the quicksilver drops, the amazing surface  reflection as well as the sensation that it is still liquid," he explains.This liquid silvery image was his inspiration when he designed the Drops vase collection. The designer

The soft, rounded forms of Arik Levy's Jupiter night lights

says the orchids and cacti in the vases give life to the pieces and when they are juxtaposed together they create a table sculpture. Arik Levy’s large, tall Jupiter night lights in sapphire blue are inspired by a constellation of stars. The soft, rounded forms follow the shapes of of a candle flame and the silvered glass reflects the lights and colours around them. The large forms of the design allow them to be used both indoors and outdoors.


The delicate hues of the Reverso wine glass & coffee cups

Sacha Walckhoff's Reverso glasses and vases are an elegant, creative idea. While the large, balloon glass at the top is for wine or water they can be turned upside down and you find a silvery expresso cup underneath. “I called it Reverso because on one side of each piece, you have an espresso cup attached to a wine glass or a water glass. So at the beginning of a dinner, you can use your glass and when the coffee arrives you turn your glass upside down and you get a coffee cup ready for use!" The Verreum silvered glass technique gives a thermal capacity to the pieces so Walckhoff incorporated that into his designs too. 

The playful forms of the Reverso vase & glasses

"They are translucent and silver-coated, they are meant to be fun to use in different and surprising ways," he eplains. “I love the idea of having one object with different uses like the three vases I also designed for Verreum. This allows the client to be creative when he or she uses it. The idea of the creative process going on after my intervention ~ it is like forming an invisible net of creative minds.”

Sacha Walckhoff says as a designer, glass has its own special demands. “There are a  lot of challenges working with glass. I know a little about ceramic and porcelain but glass is really something on its own. Beginning to work with glass  through  Verreum on a semi-industrial line was even more challenging as there were a lot of restrictions such as doing only symmetrical shapes, using the grading of colours in one direction and so on. 

Sketches of the Chado teaset designed by Sebastian Herkner



Walckhoff’s collection of vases are meant to be mixed and matched, played with, turned upside down to change into glass lanterns when they are not filled with flowers. “The glasses follow the same principle, and so the champagne flute, once bottom up, becomes a tumbler while the white wine glass turns into a coffee cup when on its head. Also the silvered glass being double makes the possibility of creating shapes even smaller. But then I discovered that you could glue glass together, something that you do not do with ceramics and that helped a lot! But in general, I always love challenges, as it leads you to ideas you might not have explored without those difficulties.”
The Reverso collection is available in four colour

The new Bonbon side tables by Luca Nichetto

combinations: smoked silver and translucent glass, golden khaki and cobalt blue, garnet colored and emerald green and copper-bronze and smoked grey.

Other pieces in the Verreum collection include the hand-blown new Bonbon tables by Italian designer Luca Nichetto that were launched in Milan at the Salone del Mobile in April. Inspired by silver candy wrappers, they have a stylised form composed of geometric shapes in a totem form that can be used as glimmering, sculptural side tables. It seems an extraordinary feat that these beautiful, silvery pieces are all hand-blown in a small studio in the forests of Bohemia. Pavel Weiser has not only made a winning combination of international designers and hand-made skill but he has revived an art that was almost lost for more than half a century.

Interview: Finnish Photographer Konsta Leppänen

Photographer Konsta Leppänen with his adopted pointer Buster, found in the streets of Spain. "People are the most interesting subjects for me as a photographer. They’re also the most difficult subjects, since 10 percent is the photography and 90 percent is about observation and interaction."

Konsta Leppänen is a talented photographer from Finland, a member of the 11 Collective and he has won the biggest Finnish photojournalism prize, the Patricia Seppälä Foundation Award. Andreas Romagnoli and Jeanne-Marie Cilento ask the hipster and intellectual 10 Questions about his life and work

KONSTA Leppänen’s landscape and urban photographs often have a solitary figure lost in a vast alienating cityscape or a sea of snow and water that capture a sense of spiritual and physical isolation. Yet his portraits of people are full of dynamism and life and seem to fizz with suppressed energy. Leppänen alternates between using black and white pictures and those that are more saturated to explicate the contrasts in Finnish life and culture.

His passion for photography began when he started shooting portraits of people on the street and then later joined the 11 Collective, the group of avant-garde photojournalists. He says the collective's aim is to create a new type of Finnish documentary photography. Working with the group, he produces annual in-depth photo essays around chosen themes. 

“Our first project was about Finland and the exhibition has toured around the country for a year now, including at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki,’’ says Leppänen. “The main idea is to collectively help each individual with their personal projects and to diminish the loneliness of the process. From very early on we expose the process of visual storytelling to the analytical evaluation and constructive criticism of members of the group.”

Today, Leppänen is studying the Master's Program in Visual Journalism at Tampere University and works as a freelance photographer and photojournalist, alternating between working for well-known Finnish magazines and newspapers and making social documentaries.

1.What are you currently working on? 

I’m working on several different projects, two of which are part of our 11 Collective’s upcoming group projects. I was recently in Egypt reporting about the unrest there and I'm still trying to make sense out of those photos. The other is a broader and more personal essay-like study on men of my generation. However, for the next couple of months I’m also working as a staff photographer for Aamulehti, which is the second largest newspaper in Finland, so I won’t be able to work much on these projects right at the moment.

2. What inspires your creative work now?

I’m a typical Finn so very often my inspiration derives from anxiety and sheer envy towards those more talented than myself. It’s a very unhealthy and unproductive way to push yourself forward, but so far it has helped me to pursue my photography.

3. How did you choose photography as your creative metier?

I didn’t choose photography as such. I started studying journalism and worked in newspapers. I could appreciate beautiful, dramatic and clever pictures especially in the context of journalism, but at that point I couldn’t even dream of taking such photos myself. When I finally bought my own first camera, which was relatively late, in my early twenties, it infested me like a disease. I didn’t want to write anymore, writing didn’t motivate me to push forward like photography. Nothing did, really.

4. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your photography style?

Actually, I’m not even sure I have a coherent style just yet, I think I’m only beginning to recognise what my style could be. This is something that should be asked from Elina, my girlfriend and mother of my child.

Since the beginning of my photographic pursuits she's been there encouraging but also judging quite harshly when necessary. You know ~ a slap on the face to get me back on track. I still feel the need to show her everything I've done immediately to see what she thinks about it. I think she knows what my style is way better than I do.

5. What do you find the most challenging aspect of your work technically?

Technically the most challenging thing for me is to not think about the technicalities at all. To let go of the technology, not to think about apertures and focal lengths and flashes and what not. They’re not important. What is important is what you’re taking photos of, not with what you’re doing it. 

For the past year or so I've been very tired of shooting with my DSLR aside from work. It's just too huge and intimidating. I bought a small mirror less camera and I have it with my everywhere I go and it's brilliant, nobody gets scared of it and nobody thinks I'm other than tourist. And the best thing is that I don't think about the technicalities at all! It really has rekindled my photography, same as Instagram, I guess.

6. What do you like to photograph?

People are the most interesting subjects for me as a photographer. They’re also the most difficult subjects, since 10 percent is the photography and 90 percent is about observation and interaction.

7. Do you have a set schedule of working creatively everyday or is the process more fluid?

Since I’m Scandinavian, I’ve tried to organise my creativity. I’ve tried keeping diaries, I’ve promised myself to shoot everyday and so on. So far nothing has really worked. I cannot force it. I think the most important thing is to keep your self somehow inspired everyday. Watch a movie, eye through some photos, analyse illustrations or just listen to music and try to enjoy it.

8.What part of photography gives you the most happiness and do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?

I think that if someday I'll be able to be totally instinctive about my photography I could finally be satisfied with myself. Hopefully that never comes. Satisfaction will kill off the urge to push forward and my photography is always closely tied to being unsatisfied. A certain level of struggling is elementary for my progress. But to answer the question: my photography is instinctive at best but usually very rational.

9. Is there a town or place in the world you consider inspiring?

If we talk about street photography or similar, Finland is a difficult country to work in. People are so reserved and they don't show too much emotion (or anything else, for that matter). That's why I really enjoy Rome, for example. People are relaxed and open in public spaces and allow glimpses into who they really are. It's almost as if they don't care and that is very fascinating and scary for a Finn.

10. In our digital age what is the relationship between photography and contemporary art?

I try not to bother myself with questions such as what is art and what is not – especially when it comes to my own work. Even though my photos have been exhibited in galleries and museums, I consider myself to be a journalist, not an artist. I most certainly have nothing against art photography and I am very pleased if someone thinks that my photos are interesting enough when considered in the context of art. However, I'm just not keen on making that distinction myself. With the 11 collective we've been very eager to mix and mess with the concept of art and concept of documentary and I intend to keep pushing those boundaries in the future. 

For more information about Konsta Leppänen visit: http://konstakuva.com

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow

The 11 Collective won the Patricia Seppälä Photojournalism Award in March 2013, the biggest prize in Finnish photojournalism. Konsta Leppänen is at the far right.

A photograph from the 11 Collective's series 3.6 meters or more, an essay about Finns' relationship with their surroundings. It was shot around Finland during 2011 - 2012.

Another picture from the 11 Collective's series 3.6 meters or more about Finns and their environment. 

Looking like a group of medieval saxons, Leppänen's photograph of the Finnish band Death Hawks taken in 2013

A photograph from the Rome series taken in 2011: "I really enjoy Rome ~ people are relaxed and open in public spaces and allow glimpses into who they really are. It's almost as if they don't care and that is very fascinating and scary for a Finn."

 Finland's young Artist of the Year Jarno Vasala, photographed for Finnish Art Today magazine in 2013.

Another picture of Jarno Vasala, the young artist of the year for Finnish Art Today magazine shot in 2013.

A large man in a tiny Fiat 500 from Leppänen's series on Rome.

A plane caught in flight with a dynamic conflagration of birds and a street light. 

An evocative picture simply titled Hangover 2012.

From the Collective 11's 3.6 meters or more essay about Finnish society and landscape. 

Leppänen's photograph of a girl from a story on Finnish dental care taken in 2013