Jonna Anelma | Jonna Anelma

Hei,

I am a jewelry maker and photographer from Utsjoki. I come from Southern Finland, Siuntio, but I fell in love with the Northernmost lapland at first sight 14 years ago.

I'm currently studying my last year to become a jewelry smith in Inari. The world of jewelry is endlessly fascinating, from the design process to the finished product. I enjoy the physicality of working with silver and the rough tools, how I see the silver plate being shaped into a beautiful piece of jewelry through my hands.

As a photographer, I get to capture a meaningful moment and create visual stories. In photographs, I am fascinated especially by self-portraits. I have studied empowering photography, which is a social pedagogical method developed by Miina Savolainen. I am impressed and convinced of how great the power of integrity is in the gaze of another's acceptance, in being seen. Without forgetting your own accepting look for yourself, which you can also find with the help of a photo.

My jewelry and photos reflect the magical beauty and power of northern nature. Its shapes, colors and textures bring a little piece of the north close to you.

Anelma was my grandmother's middle name, I changed my middle name to Anelma as well.

The photo shows my grandmother Elsi Anelma in Vyborg in 1936. My grandmother was from Repola, a rural municipality in Vyborg. With the war, the family was settled in Siuntio.

Grandma was an important person to me, so I wanted her involved in my business in some way. I also feel Karelianness more like my own than Southern Finland.

The company is important to me in many ways, it is an opportunity to fulfill myself and be me.