Hunting for Jouko

In September Karoline bumped into the blasting team at the hospital construction site and met a very friendly detonation worker. She didn’t catch his name, but managed to capture him on film. In late October we showed up again with his image and asked everybody ‘have you seen this man?’ Luckily Jouko Fofonoff is a household name.

Since 1977 Jouko has left his house at 7am and arrived at work at 7am. He lives 10 km south of the Norwegian border in Näätämö, Finland, from where he commutes to Kirkenes. Jouko drives a road roller for leveling, lays pipes and prepares for blastings through drilling. If there is something that needs to be done, he will do it, just like the potato that goes with everything.

Jouko is also a reindeer herder and a bulletless vegetarian hunter (he hasn’t got the heart to kill). We are huge fans!

First meeting with Jouko in September 2014 © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

Jouko’s pink detonation cable, the one that caught Karoline’s eye © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

Appropriate attire for location scouting © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

These cones are placed to cover the drilling holes before blasting © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

This tempting new find was inconveniently stuck under some blasting mats © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

Jouko’s roller to the right, with his handiwork in the foreground © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

These leftovers were quickly stashed into Riitta’s suitcase © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

A conversation in code (= Finnish) © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen

Every construction site needs a puppy or two. This is Pantti © Karoline Hjorth & Riitta Ikonen