Tallinn 2002

The works of Mark Raidpere, Tõnis Jürgens and Foxy Haze create a small time capsule of 2000s Tallinn. Childhood is oblivious to the prevailing regime or economic circumstances. For me, these works are, on one hand, windows into the slowly fading memory of my childhood Tallinn. On the other hand, they evoke cultural and social phenomena that, at the time, went largely unnoticed by me as a young boy.

In 2002, Mark Raidpere was commissioned to take several photos for the book Tallinna juht. A User’s Guide to Tallinn, which visitors can find on the reading table at the end of this exhibition. This commission grew into a much larger series documenting scenes from across Tallinn. While much of the exhibition has concentrated on spaces, buildings and their creators, here, at last, the residents take centre stage. These images feature Tallinn residents of various genders, nationalities and age groups.

While preparing the photos for the exhibition, Raidpere noted that he could no longer envision himself taking such pictures today. Overall, it seems to me that photographing in public spaces doesn’t carry the same significance it once did. In the age of social media and smartphones, when anyone can create and share images instantly, there is nothing particularly remarkable about someone with a camera or their photos. Perhaps I am overinterpreting the playful expressions of the children depicted here, but it feels as though these images still hold a trace of the genuine excitement with which cameras were greeted in the last century.