Pentti Sammallahti - The Photographers` Gallery

PENTTI SAMMALLAHTI
Pentti Sammallahti was born in 1950 in Helsinki, Finland. He began
photographing at 11 and by 1971 began to exhibit extensively in Finland and
throughout the world. Sammallahti has travelled widely as a photographer, from
his native Scandinavia, across the Soviet Republics through Siberia, to Japan,
India, Nepal, Morocco, Turkey, across Europe and Great Britain, and even to South
Africa. Sammallahti’s travels and interest in fine printing and lithography has led
him to publish numerous portfolios of which the most recentis ‘Ici et Loin’, Actes
Sud 2012. As a benchmark figure in contemporary Finnish photography, his work
has a supernatural sense of a moment in time with the sensitivity and beauty of the
world displayed through its animalistic existence. His particular use of dogs, which
reflects the human existential experience, shows the shared nature of the earth
with a gentle humor and fleeting attitude.
Sammallahti describes himself as a wanderer who likes the nature of the great
north, the silence, the cold, and the sea. He likes the people and the animals of far
off places and he records the relationships between them and their environment.
As a master craftsman, he meticulously tones his prints, which in turn helps to
produce the images and display the brief moments in time. As a passionate seeker
of the perfect mechanical printing method, his own innovative printing techniques
and reintroduction of the portfolio form have re-awakened broader interest in
published photographic art.
EDITION INFORMATION
Prices start from €600+ vat.
Print size ranges from 15 x 20cm to 25 x 40cm
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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions
2011
2010
2010
2007
2006
2006
2005
1998
1996
1977
1971
Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, USA
Retrospective, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
Pentti Sammallahti, Images rares ou recentes, Box Galerie, Brussels, Belgium
Candace Dwan Gallery, New York, USA
Northern Light, Candace Dwan Gallery, New York, USA
Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, USA
Arles International Photography Festival, France
Houston FotoFest, Houston, USA
Mois de la Photographie, Paris, France
Gotland artists' house, Visby. (Travelling exhibition)
Kaupunki on painajainen, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2004
1979
1976
1974
Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation's, Paris, France
Cathleen Ní Houlihan, Helsinki, Finland. (Travelling exhibition)
Uusia sarjoja, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
Mullasta taivaalle, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
Awards
2009
2001
1992
1991
1980
1979
1975
1968
1966
State Art Award for Photographic Art
Honorary Doctorate in Art, University of Art and Design
State Art Award for Photographic Art
Finnish State's 15-year artist's grant
Finnish Critics' Association's Kritiikin kannukset award
State Art Award for Photographic Art
State Art Award for Photographic Art
Anderson Art Museum in Helsinki
Winner Junge Fotografen zeigen Europa competition
Collections
Ffotogallery, Cardiff, Wales
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
Nice Audiovisuel, Nice, France
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Moderna Museet/ Fotografiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
The Finnish State Collections, Finland
Photographic Museum of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
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SELECTED PRESS
The New York Times, 24 March 2008
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Financial Times: Visual Arts, 6 June2012
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Time: Lightbox, 19 March 2013
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