Sari Sandberg

Pekka is a former carpenter and my stepfather. These are moments of his life, when every day, every moment repeats the same day after day. This picture series depicts a life, where there is no hope for a better tomorrow.

Pekka had a one-man carpenter company with own wood workshop. He postponed vacations and weekends, when there was a new order and never knew if there will be work after that.

All those dreams that were supposed to come true in retirement were left unfulfilled. When retirement started, he was tired, and cancer was founded.

My project deals with a socially common issue, where a caregiver takes care of a spouse at home. The project is personally important to me, that I get to photograph Pekka’s life. You never know what the last day will be.

I hope to add an artistic nuance to the photos with the atmosphere, storytelling and light, contrast of light and darkness in addition to just a documentary photo series. I want to reveal Pekka’s stopped life and at the same time a glimpse of the time and colors of the outside world moving forward. I wanted to photograph in such a way that person’s dignity and humanity is preserved, even though sadness and fatigue are present in the pictures.

With the name of the project, I also want to wake up the viewer to consider the ‘then when’ moments of their own life, if they were to change into NOW form.