Henri Airo: Probable Cause
€41
Keywords: 2019-2026, documentary, staged photography, drunk driving, family tragedy, Finnish photographer
Size: 210 x 275 mmPages: 196
Format: hardcover
Language: English, Finnish
Illustration: in colour
Book design: Janne Riikonen
Printing: Jelgavas
Publisher: Kult Books
Pub Year: 2026
Weight: 695 gr
ISBN: 9789153173083
Description
Article no.: 9789153173083
A re-enactment of a family tragedy
”Probable Cause is a documentary that attempts to understand the social circumstances of addiction that surround my sisters death. By combining archival research, re-enactment and different forms of photography, the project builds a polyphonic narrative of the perpetrator on the day of the crash. Working in archives, I’ve collected visual and textual materials from the case, such as 13 news broadcasts, over 40 news articles and the police report with eye-witness accounts and police photographs. Based on this research, I have re-staged and re-enacted events that were left without visual representation. At times I have worked with original eye-witnesses who re-enact scenes for my camera, while other images are made in collaboration with actors".
From the publisher:
In January 2012, Henri Airo’s little sister was killed in a hit-and-run by a repeat drunk driver. In that instant, his family’s life was divided into what was before and after.
While the Airo family struggled with the loss, the national media covered the crash and the subsequent police investigation extensively. The police focused on technical details—crash simulations, blood tests—while media narratives reduced the case to a drama between the innocent victim and the malicious perpetrator. The resulting documents and reports examined drunk driving and alcoholism in Finnish society but largely ignored the social circumstances surrounding addiction.
In 2018 Airo came across the original police report. It felt incomplete. Together with primary eye-witnesses and actors, Airo began to re-visualise scenes which had been glossed over in the documents.
Probable Cause draws on media and police archives, re-enactment and Airo’s personal testimony to understand the circumstances of his sister’s death. By restructuring existing narratives, the project reveals multiple personal perspectives embedded within the official record. In reconstructing the perpetrator’s day, speculation and doubt become entry points for reflecting on how addiction is perceived in Finnish society.
”Probable Cause is a documentary that attempts to understand the social circumstances of addiction that surround my sisters death. By combining archival research, re-enactment and different forms of photography, the project builds a polyphonic narrative of the perpetrator on the day of the crash. Working in archives, I’ve collected visual and textual materials from the case, such as 13 news broadcasts, over 40 news articles and the police report with eye-witness accounts and police photographs. Based on this research, I have re-staged and re-enacted events that were left without visual representation. At times I have worked with original eye-witnesses who re-enact scenes for my camera, while other images are made in collaboration with actors".
From the publisher:
In January 2012, Henri Airo’s little sister was killed in a hit-and-run by a repeat drunk driver. In that instant, his family’s life was divided into what was before and after.
While the Airo family struggled with the loss, the national media covered the crash and the subsequent police investigation extensively. The police focused on technical details—crash simulations, blood tests—while media narratives reduced the case to a drama between the innocent victim and the malicious perpetrator. The resulting documents and reports examined drunk driving and alcoholism in Finnish society but largely ignored the social circumstances surrounding addiction.
In 2018 Airo came across the original police report. It felt incomplete. Together with primary eye-witnesses and actors, Airo began to re-visualise scenes which had been glossed over in the documents.
Probable Cause draws on media and police archives, re-enactment and Airo’s personal testimony to understand the circumstances of his sister’s death. By restructuring existing narratives, the project reveals multiple personal perspectives embedded within the official record. In reconstructing the perpetrator’s day, speculation and doubt become entry points for reflecting on how addiction is perceived in Finnish society.