A Distant Land close to us all – Pentti Sammallahti at Fotografiska Stockholm

Pentti Sammallahti

Distant Land

22 November 2019-8 March Fotografiska Stockholm

“In the Eye of the Beholder” is a beautiful saying full of mystery. What is actually in the eye of the beholder, how much of yourself is in every observation you make? And are you aware of how much your interpretation is part of a creation? There is a need for mystery in the materialistic Western world. And the work of Pentti Sammallahti meets those needs in the most gentle, humoristic and thoughtful way. A poetic observer with a unique and inclusive eye to the world around him, recognized as a master craftsman both in terms of the photographic print as well as in mechanical printing methods. Fotografiska Stockholm is proud to present Distant Land, a major exhibition with the legendary Finnish photographer Pentti Sammallahti, curated by Anna Mustonen.

Pentti Sammallahti, one of Finland’s most recognized artists, is more than a photographer: he is a craftsman, a poet, a traveler, and a master-observer. For over 50 years he has captured the mysteries of nature, in all of its forms across the world, in exquisite imagery in which nature and artifice, reality and fantasy, become indisputably intertwined. And his own innovative printing techniques and reintroduction of the portfolio form has been a major influence for published photographic art. 

Photo: Solovki Vienan meri Venäjä, 1992 © Pentti Sammallahti 

At a very early age, just nine years old, Sammallahti born in 1950 in Helsinki, Finland decided about his own future as photographer – after his father took him to the group exhibition Family of Man curated by Edward Steichen. Only two years later he made his first photographs featuring everyday life in Helsinki, and begun to exhibit extensively in Finland and throughout the world from the early 70s. Since then, he hasn’t stopped taking outstanding images that are both formally accomplished and filled with melancholic poetry.

 “Those great pieces of art that reminds us about the mystic of our existence, that time and place sometimes not matter at all. How we suddenly don’t care whether what we observe is familiar or unknown, we just let it in. To turn our attention internally is an important aspect in our hectic lives. Distant Land gives us perspective of that places that seemed distant actually can be very close”, says Emilie Ackerman Exhibition Producer at Fotografiska Stockholm.

Photo: Vuokkiniemi Karjala Venäjä, 1991 © Pentti Sammallahti

The major exhibition Distant Land at Fotografiska Stockholm, curated by Anna Mustonen, displays 200 photographs by the artist and mentor for an entire generation of Scandinavian photographers. It is a fascinating journey to the mysterious land that is both present in the moment and existing in our imagination, that Sammallahti gives the glimpse of with every scene that he captures. His black and white photographs are both proof of Sammallahti’s extraordinary craftsmanship and a formal key to his visual poetry.  The interplay between subtlety and humour, impermanence and timelessness is inherent to his black and white photographs whether they are taken in his hometown Helsinki, isolated areas of the Finnish archipelago, or faraway lands: former Soviet republics, India, Nepal, Turkey, or Morocco. 

Sammallahti invites us, the observers, to make our own interpretation as well as giving us a smile and perhaps goose bumps, triggered by the feeling of immediate connection with both the artist and what is portrayed. In the eye of the beholder…

Photo: Helsinki Suomi, 1982 © Pentti Sammallahti

“I believe and know there is a lot which connect everything on Earth and of course in this unity has nothing to do with money, status etc. But I'm not a devout Christian or a believer in general. When I photograph or print I hope there is sometimes something to do with that unity”, says Pentti Sammallahti.

When working Sammallahti appears to share Walker Evans’ sentiment regarding the role of a photographer as a lucky observer for whom the photograph is “given, not taken” based on the pure chance of him having been there to witness the magical moment – who happens to be behind the camera is of lesser significance than the unravelling scene itself. 

“I feel like I received the photograph, I didn't take it. If you're in the right place at the right time, then all you have to do is push a button. Being a photographer doesn't come into it. Everything I've photographed exists regardless of me, my role is only to be receptive. The most important thing is the luck, behind every good image there is the good luck too”, says Pentti Sammallahti.

With a unique talent for observation, capturing seemingly ordinary scenes from everyday life, that in his lens are lifted to timeless compositions that reminiscent of stills from a monochrome film, or landscape paintings in a scale of grey. These associations are not accidental. 

 “He is not a documentary photographer or nature photographer, but a photographic artist, using references to music, poetry, literature to influence his work. The language is very poetic, filled with cultural traits that you might not immediately notice.Sammallahti is involved in the entire process of creating a photograph. It starts with the way he composes the work; the art historical references, how he frames the photographs, deciding what to keep and what to leave out of the frame. He develops the photographs himself, with the darkroom as his happy place where he listens to the sound of the solution splashing around, as he is making them. It appears similarly meditative to taking the picture. He is a true artist, working like a painter, and a craftsman –creating everything with his own hands. It’s pretty extraordinary”, says Anna Mustonen. 

Photo: Delhi Intia,1999 ©Pentti Sammallahti

Whereas there may be an element of lucky encounter when composing the scenes against the backdrop of the desolate landscape, in mist and muted light, there is no room for accidents in processing the final image. Sammallahti prints all his own photographsand his practice is rooted in analogue technique. The resulting photographs may adopt a small, postcard-size format or be printed as large panoramic images. The deep tones and textures reveal his patience and craftsmanship, the qualities that he passed on to his students at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, where he taught for 17 years until he was honoured a 15-year grant from the Finnish government in 1991 to focus on his own practice.·

ARTIST SHORT BIO:

 Born in 1950 in Helsinki, Finland, from 1971 Pentti Sammallahti began to exhibit extensively in Finland and throughout the world. He is recognised as a master craftsman both in terms of the photographic print and also in mechanical printing methods, always using analogue technic and in black and white. His own innovative printing techniques and his reintroduction of the Portfolio form have been a major influence on published photographic art. Sammallahti taught at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki for 17 Years, until he received a 15-year artist’s grant in 1991 from the Finnish government, an unusually long endowment. 

Sammallahti had a solo exhibition at Paris for Mois de la Photographie in 1996 and another in 1998 at Houston Fotofest. In 2004, Henri Cartier-Bresson ranked Sammallahti amongst his favourite photographers in his Foundation’s inaugural exhibition in Paris. In 2005 he was added to Robert Delpire’s Photo Poche book series and also exhibited at the Arles International Photography Festival. As a teacher, Sammallahti has had an enormous influence on a whole generation of documentary photographers in Scandinavia and since 1979, he has published thirteen books and Portfolios and has received innumerable awards. In 2001 he received Honorary Doctorate in Art from the Helsinki University of Art and Design. 

FACT BOX: 

Name and surname: Pentti Sammallahti

Country: Finland

Born:  1950 

The press pictures is not allowed to be cropped, just for press publishing during and till the end of the exhibition period at Fotografiska

Margita Ingwall
Head of PR
+46(0)70-456 14 61
margita.ingwall@fotografiska.se

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