Ida Pimenoff - Book of Hours

Ida Pimenoff's small but perfectly formed book-work Book of Hours arrived in my mailbox today, thank you Ida. The book engages the reader's head and heart, not only with the demands of its questions but through its honest authenticity. There is no cleverness here, no striving for effect for effects sake. The book pulls you back through its text and images with thoughts and ideas that resonate with ones own life experience. What's more, the book has an almost diaristic feel and a pleasant tactility with its mellow off-white paper stock and Swiss binding.

Kehrer the publisher say this: Book of Hours is the third photobook by Finnish photographer Ida Pimenoff. In her new work, Pimenoff combines images of everyday life with text: short pieces of fiction, random thoughts, memories. The main theme of the new book is time; the strange paradox that although days, in all their banality, often follow each other in a predictable manner, every single moment is unique. There is no going back. While the work deals with the passing of time, it also deals with memories (both light and dark), dreams, wishes, longing and loss. The title of the book, which refers to old, medieval, illustrated prayer books, wants to make the viewer pause for a moment, meditate on the mystery of life. Why are we here? What for? Who am I? And: where am I going? 

These simple words at then end of Ida's book struck a note with me:

This is me:
I made this book; these images and these words.
I wanted them to look as much like me as I could.
So that you could see me, and maybe, then,
I could see you too.

You can have a look at more of Ida Pimenoff's work on her web site HERE.