Studio Bizio
Opened March 2018
Atelieri O. Haapala was a portraiture studio and art project active between 2008 and 2016. In that time it took part in over 80 events and photographed over 7000 portraits. The studio also gained international visibility, organised its own photoshoots and participated in exhibitions on three continents.
Atelieri O. Haapala was the joint project of visual artist Saara Salmi and photographer Marco Melander. The duo was inspired by 19th century photography studios and touring portrait photographers. History, for Atelieri O. Haapala, was a source of endless inspiration. Apart from portraits the studio also produced a series of photographs depicting the wonderful adventures of Mrs. O. Haapala (Salmi) and Mr. Helmut Schweinstein (Melander).
Saara Salmi, BA, (1981) is a visual artist who creates works from the fantasy world. She graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media, concentrating on visual design and animation, but ended up painting movie sets, photographing and getting really deep in Photoshop.
Marco Melander, MA, (1968) graduated from the department of photography in Aalto University. He loves to work both commercially and having an artistic project, or two, on the side. Working with people is by far the best part of his job.