A few years ago, we discovered the poetry of Pentti Sammallahti’s small prints at the Finnish institute during Photo Month. Since then, the photographer’s work has been very popular with the public. During the opening of his latest exhibition, on view at the Galerie Camera Obscura until January 19, 2013, visitors had to wait more than an hour to get him to sign their copy of his latest book.

An unclassifiable photographer, his work is a reflection of his exposure to many different artistic disciplines. Born in Helsinki in 1950, he inherited from his goldsmith father the absolute precision found in the clean landscapes of his series Archipelago (1970). His love of nature led him to the four corners of the world to document, often in panorama, the peculiarities of a particular country or continent. His passion for knowledge also pushed him to study art history, music, math and photography, especially the printing process, which he practiced diligently at age 14 at the Helsinki Camera Club, before becoming the head of Matti A. Pitkänen’s photo lab.

Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr

Read the full text of this article on the French version of Le Journal.

Exhibition
"Ici au loin"
Photographs by Pentti Sammallahti
Until January 19th, 2013
(Closed on 23-12.2012 to 02-01.2013)
Galerie Camera Obscura
268 Bd Raspail
75014 Paris
France
+33 (0) 145 45 67 08

Book
"Ici au loin"
Photographs by Pentti Sammallahti
Introduction by FinnThane
Bibliography by Kristoffer Albrecht
Éditions Actes Sud
256 pages 205 x 310 mm
French, English, Spanish, German, Italian and Finnish