Finnish photographer Jussi Puikkonen transforms the seemingly mundane world of small-town cruising culture into something deeply poetic in Cruise. Shot between 2020 and 2024 and published by Garret Publications, the book explores the uniquely Finnish phenomenon of pilluralli endless nighttime drives through rural towns where teenagers and young adults gather in modified cars, circling parking lots, gas stations and deserted streets in search of connection, freedom and identity.
Rather than treating the scene as a sociological curiosity, Puikkonen approaches it with tenderness and quiet intimacy. His photographs are filled with glowing twilight skies, fogged windows, fluorescent petrol stations and worn-out cars transformed into temporary sanctuaries. The vehicles themselves become extensions of their owners: chaotic sound systems, cheap modifications, fuzzy dice and improvised interiors reveal entire personalities and emotional worlds. The result feels less like a document about cars and more like a portrait of youth suspended somewhere between boredom and possibility.
One of the most compelling aspects of Cruise is its atmosphere. Puikkonen captures the surreal light of the Nordic “nightless nights,” where summer evenings never fully turn dark and time seems to dissolve. This endless twilight gives the book a dreamlike cinematic quality, somewhere between documentary photography and melancholic road movie. The sequencing moves through seasons and emotional states, balancing portraits, landscapes and details with remarkable sensitivity.
The project also reflects on isolation and belonging in contemporary rural Finland. In places where public transport barely exists and opportunities can feel limited, the car becomes freedom itself a private room, a social network and a rite of passage all at once. Puikkonen avoids romanticizing or mocking his subjects; instead, he photographs them with empathy and respect, allowing the quiet dignity of the community to emerge naturally.
Visually, Cruise sits somewhere between the lyrical Americana of Alec Soth and the subdued emotional realism of Nordic cinema, yet it remains unmistakably Finnish. It is a photobook about movement without destination, about adolescence stretching endlessly under midnight skies, and about the fragile beauty hidden inside overlooked subcultures. Quiet, atmospheric and emotionally resonant, *Cruise* is one of the most memorable contemporary photobooks exploring youth culture in recent years.
Cruise - Jussi Puikkonen
SIGNED BY JUSSI PUIKKONEN
