“Without teaching or giving me any tips,
[Oewie] had an important part in making me
grow as an artist and editor; I took notice of
the way he expressed himself.”
Hakemo gradually progressed in his
editing skills, finding liberation in the worlds
of art and music. In addition to being a
visual amalgamator, Hakemo released several
international albums, playing bass for a death
metal band. He attributes his “dark and
gloomy” photographic style to his relationship
with the death metal scene. In images like
“The Man in the Mist”, Hakemo pays unspoken
homage to death metal and writer Stephen
King by unnerving the viewer with a sense of
unease and foreboding energy.
Much of Hakemo’s work can be tracked
by recurring themes. Astronauts and natural
landscapes are often juxtaposed, projecting
the strange ways in which we try to marry
nature and scientific technology. According
to Hakemo, his fascination with such themes
stems from “the contrast between soft and
hard, hot and cold, and how these factors
actually work together.”
An example of this can be seen in “Astro
Abduction”, where an astronaut eerily levitates
from a forest lake. “I think the landscapes stand
for safety and warmth, while astronauts and
space represent loneliness and cold.” Hakemo
explained of his thematic patterns.
156
inspadesmag.com