Contents page

The Finnish Museum of Photography and the Contemporary Photographic Art

The Finnish Museum of Photography and the Contemporary Photographic Art

Ulla Jokisalo Inspiration, 2008 Pigment print, dimensions variable (original: thread and needles on pigment print, 2005) All images collection of: The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

The mission of the Finnish Museum of Photography is “to promote and foster Finnish photographic art and photographic culture.” The museum has a challenging double task, as it works both in the field of photographic art and in the field of cultural historical photography. In terms of exhibition and acquisition policies, a museum with such a wide range of activities offers a rich context for contemporary photographic art. Both in exhibition programmes and in acquisitions all decisions strive for a rich understanding of the photographic culture in its widest sense.

The museum is maintained by the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Photography and its main supporters are the Finnish Ministry of Education and the City of Helsinki. The museum, founded on the initiative of a number of photographic organizations, celebrated its fortieth-anniversary last year, which means that even by international standards Finland was quite quick off the mark in setting up a museum for photography. The photographic exhibitions at New York’s MoMA started in the1930s but most of the European photography museums began much later, in the 1970s and the 1980s.

A lot has changed in forty years, both in the surrounding society and at the Museum of Photography, which today has a permanent staff of fourteen and a huge collection of 3.7 million photographs, including, for example, large press and portrait negative archives. Since the early 1990s it has been located in the Cable Factory, a former industrial building constructed by Nokia, today an impressive cultural centre owned by the City of Helsinki.

In the museum’s exhibition policy contemporary photographic art is in a leading role. Exhibitions are largely based on Finnish photography due to the museum’s role as the national specialist museum, but also because of the unparalleled upswing in contemporary Finnish photography. Never before has there been so much activity and never before have there been so many qualified professional photographic artists with whom the museum would like to collaborate in exhibition projects.

Sometimes the museum has been accused of being too narrow in its exhibition programme and of showing too little international photography. Looking at the museum’s exhibition programme it is apparent that in our contemporary globalized culture it would be natural to increase the number of international exhibitions. Until now the limited resources together with a rich national activity have influenced the exhibition policy, but in the near future, some new measures will be taken to increase the number of shows of foreign photographers.

Working with both emerging and established artists is for us an important guideline in our exhibition policy. In the coming years we are going to have several mid-career shows of the first generation of university-trained photographers but without forgetting the younger generations. The museum considers it essential to support younger photographers by giving them the chance to develop as artists.

Almost all the art museums in Finland became interested in photography in the early 1990s and since then photography shows have been seen all over the country. Many art museums have also started to acquire photographic art. From the point of view of the Finnish Museum of Photography, these ongoing developments have resulted in happily shared responsibilities: more chances for the artists to show their work as well as more purchases for the collections.

Still, in spite of the wide general interest, as a specialist museum with a wide knowledge of many aspects of photography, we believe in giving some extra value to the contemporary photographic scene. We are happy to give space to retrospectives of photographers who started their careers long before the latest boom in photography, and who are still working with traditional black-and-white photography. We are also the only museum in the country having the courage to stage thematic exhibitions in which photographic art is combined with other uses of photography. And in general, as we see it, many photographers enjoy the response of a specialist museum of this kind can give them in their development as artists. We are aspiring to speak the same languages as our contemporary photographic artists.

Artist: Ismo Hölttö is a photo-artist known for his monochrome portraits of Roma people and others living in the cities and countryside of Finland in the 1960s. His works have been exhibited in France, Denmark, and Lithuania, as well as in Finland.

Artist: Marco Melander is a photo artist who lives and works in Helsinki. Melander who graduated with a Masters in fine art from the University of Art and Design, is best known for his work for designer and artist Stefan Lindfors. In 2008 he started Atelieri O. Haapala, a collaborative project with the photo artist Saara Salmi. Melanders images have been published in international magazines such as The Times, Blueprint and Domus.

Artist: Saara Salmi is a photo artist who lives and works in Helsinki. She graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 2006. She is currently involved in Atelieri O. Haapala, a collaborative project with the photo artist Marco Melander. Salmi has had several exhibitions in Finland, most recently at the Finnish Museum of Photography.

Artist: Ulla Jokisalo is a photo artist and currently lives and works in Helsinki. Graduating from the Helsinki University of Art and Design, she juxtaposes found images from popular culture with personal photographs, often combining her images with artefacts like needlework. She has exhibited nationally and internationally and produced several monographs.

Writer: Elina Heikka is the director of the Finnish Museum of Photography. She holds an MA in art history from University of Helsinki. Heikka has worked both as a specialist researcher and director of the Central Art Archives / Finnish National Gallery (2001-2007), the editor in chief of Valokuva – Finnish Photography (1994-1997), curator, gallerist (Gallery Workshop) – as well as guest lecturer at the University of Art and Design (Taik) in Helsinki and the Art Academy Turku among others. Heikka has written numorous articles on the history of photography, contemporary photography, visual culture, art criticism, and art institution.