NAME: Ville Kansanen
BIRTH PLACE: Espoo, FInland
BIRTH DATE: 1.24.84
BIOGRAPHY
I was born in 1984 in a little town in Finland called Espoo where I spent a better part of my life pursuing my personal and in many ways secretive artistic ambitions. All of my schooling has been in the English language apart from elementary school. After graduating high school from the English School of Helsinki, I spent 18 months in the Finnish military, first through conscription to earn the rank of reserve sub-lieutenant (decorated with a military cross) and then a stint as a drill-sargeant. After the military shenanigans were over, I applied to the Helsinki University of Art and Design to study graphic design in 2004; however I failed to get accepted in to the school. After the failed attempt I was propelled to spend a couple of years traveling with an ambition to learn my new love: photography, and meet practising photographers/artists. My work was noticed through my website and I had a few isolated group exhibitions, most notably one in Romania with the highly celebrated artists Jan Kaila and Elina Brotherus in July of 2006. The same year I joined a photography studio in Greece, with two other photographers, called Studio 42. Soon after, I decided to apply to study photography in The Glasgow School of Art. I was accepted to begin my studies at an advanced level placement, in fact superseding the first year of studies all together. I spent 2007-2008 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK with extreme conflicts over the staffs teaching methods and with sincere disappointment over the level of excellence they had promoted in their prospectus. Happily this time in my life coincided with falling in love and I decided to turn my life around again. I moved to Los Angeles and got married soon after. I have lived and worked in Los Angeles since August, 2008.
