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Photographer Miikka Pirinen
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The Rare

In Finland, hundreds of thousands of people live with a rare disease. These deasiases their selves might not be leathal or even severe, it's the rareness that leaves the diseased and their close ones troubled and alone with their problems. Only a handfull of people in the entire country may carry a disease that has no known cure in the world. Every visit to a doctor is a rollercoaster where no knoledge is certain. Facing different diseases but the same issue, The Rare find comfort in coming together and sharing the little knowledge out there.

 Aino, 8, suffers from Netherton Syndrome, a very rare disease characterized by chronic skin inflammation, universal pruritus (itch), severe dehydration, and stunted growth.  All day and every night she's covered with a special lotion that prote
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 Osteogenesis Imperfecta is an extremely rare inheritable disease that affects bone and connective tissue. Camilla’s, 3, room is always lit, for her bones may break from the slightest bump.
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The Rare
 Aleksi was born with a single-ventricle heart defect. After numerous open heart surgeries, he was diagnosed with a rare lung disease - Plastic bronchitis.  After waiting for a heart-lung transplant for over two years, Aleksi passed away in July
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 Jasmin, 17, suffers from a rare birth defect disease called Goldenhar syndrome, that causes incomlete development of the face, ears and spinal areas.
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 Taina and daughter Katja suffer from Behcet's disease. The exact cause of Behcet's is unknown, but it may be an autoimmune disorder, which means the body's immune system mistakenly attacks some of its own healthy cells.
 Mother Miisa and son Castor, 7, both suffer from Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause.

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