Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Meilahti, Helsinki, Finland, 1996
Gelatin silver print
Image: 4 1/4 x 3 11/16 in. (10.8 x 9.4 cm)
Paper: 5 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (14.6 x 12.1 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Three trees, three birds,
in the slush.
Six nameless things,
one expectation.
@ Bo Carpelan
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti published in Helsinki in 2009.
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Tamminiementie, Meilahti, Helsinki, Finland (Birds on Broken Branch), 2002
Toned gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image: 4 3/8 x 5 7/8 in. (11.1 x 14.9 cm)
Paper: 5 7/8 x 8 in. (14.9 x 20.3 cm)
Image: 5 3/4 x 8 1/8 in. (14.6 x 20.6 cm)
Paper: 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Baron Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a Finnish poet and author. He published his first book of poems in 1946 and received his Ph.D. in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories. In 1997, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the Finlandia Prize twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006 European Prize for Literature. His poem, Winter was Hard, was set to music by composer Aulis Sallinen. He also wrote the libretto for Erik Bergman's only opera, Det sjungande trädet. Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family Carpelan.
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti published in Helsinki in 2009.
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Pohjoissatama, Katajanokka, Helsinki, Finland (Broken Ice), 2000
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image: 6 7/8 x 5 7/8 in. (17.5 x 15.0 cm)
Paper: 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (25.1 x 20 cm)
If we expect
neatly broken ice
with birds on ice-floes,
and give them
the dream’s exact pattern:
silence,
waiting
then would the day be
able to stop life?
@ Bo Carpelan
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti published in Helsinki in 2009.
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Kanavaranta, Katajanokka, Helsinki, Finland (Ducks on Broken Ice), 1973
Gelatin silver print
Image: 4 7/8 x 7 1/8 in. (12.4 x 18.1 cm)
Paper: 7 x 9 7/8 in. (17.8 x 25.1 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Baron Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a Finnish poet and author. He published his first book of poems in 1946, and received his Ph.D. in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories. In 1997, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the Finlandia Prize twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006 European Prize for Literature. His poem, Winter was Hard, was set to music by composer Aulis Sallinen. He also wrote the libretto for Erik Bergman's only opera, Det sjungande trädet. Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family Carpelan.
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti @2009 Helsinki
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Merisatamanranta, Eira, Helsinki, 2005
Toned gelatin silver print
Image: 7 x 6 3/4 inches
Paper: 10 x 8 inches
Fiona Sze-Lorrain is a poet, literary translator, editor, and zheng harpist who writes and translates in English, French, and Chinese. The author of four poetry collections—Water the Moon (2010), My Funeral Gondola (2013), and more recently The Ruined Elegance (2016) and Rain in Plural (2020), both from Princeton University Press—she was a finalist for the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has also translated over a dozen books of contemporary Chinese, French, and American poetry, and was shortlisted for the 2020 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and the 2016 Best Translated Book Award. Named a 2019-20 Abigail R. Cohen Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, she works as an editor at Vif Éditions in Paris.
Baron Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a Finnish poet and author. He published his first book of poems in 1946 and received his Ph.D. in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories. In 1997, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the Finlandia Prize twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006 European Prize for Literature. His poem, Winter was Hard, was set to music by composer Aulis Sallinen. He also wrote the libretto for Erik Bergman's only opera, Det sjungande trädet. Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family Carpelan.
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti published in Helsinki in 2009.
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Thoroughfare, St. Petersburg, 1997
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Tuchkov Lane 12/12, St. Petersburg, 1996
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
Edition of 10
7 x 7 in. (17.7 x 17.8 cm)
12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
16 x 16 in. (40.6 x 40.6 cm)
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Evening Snow, St. Petersburg, 1996
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
Edition of 15
12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Attic, St. Petersburg, 1993
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
Edition of 5
7 x 7 inches
11.5 x 11.5 inches
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Winter Evening (Tree in Snow), St. Petersburg, 1997
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
7 x 7 inches, edition of 5
12 x 12 inches, edition of 10
Fiona Sze-Lorrain is a poet, literary translator, editor, and zheng harpist who writes and translates in English, French, and Chinese. The author of four poetry collections—Water the Moon (2010), My Funeral Gondola (2013), and more recently The Ruined Elegance (2016) and Rain in Plural (2020), both from Princeton University Press—she was a finalist for the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has also translated over a dozen books of contemporary Chinese, French, and American poetry, and was shortlisted for the 2020 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and the 2016 Best Translated Book Award. Named a 2019-20 Abigail R. Cohen Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, she works as an editor at Vif Éditions in Paris.
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Sunlight, St. Petersburg, 1995
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
Edition 5 of 10
16 x 16 in. (40.6 x 40.6 cm)
Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962)
Morningside Park, New York, 2015
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
7 x 7 in. (17.8 x 17.8 cm)
16 x 16 in. (40.6 x 40.6 cm)
Fiona Sze-Lorrain is a poet, literary translator, editor, and zheng harpist who writes and translates in English, French, and Chinese. The author of four poetry collections—Water the Moon (2010), My Funeral Gondola (2013), and more recently The Ruined Elegance (2016) and Rain in Plural (2020), both from Princeton University Press—she was a finalist for the 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has also translated over a dozen books of contemporary Chinese, French, and American poetry, and was shortlisted for the 2020 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry and the 2016 Best Translated Book Award. Named a 2019-20 Abigail R. Cohen Fellow at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, she works as an editor at Vif Éditions in Paris.
Alexey Titarenko
New York Public Library, 2017
Unique toned gelatin silver print, handmade in the darkroom by the artist
Signed, titled, dated, and editioned by the artist on verso
12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 cm)
16 x 16 in. (40.6 x 40.6 cm)
Baron Bo Gustaf Bertelsson Carpelan (25 October 1926 – 11 February 2011) was a Finnish poet and author. He published his first book of poems in 1946 and received his Ph.D. in 1960. Carpelan, who wrote in Swedish, composed numerous books of verse, as well as several novels and short stories. In 1997, he won the Swedish Academy Nordic Prize, known as the 'little Nobel'. He was the first person to have received the Finlandia Prize twice (in 1993 and 2005). He won the 2006 European Prize for Literature. His poem, Winter was Hard, was set to music by composer Aulis Sallinen. He also wrote the libretto for Erik Bergman's only opera, Det sjungande trädet. Carpelan died of cancer on 11 February 2011. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki. He was a member of the Finnish noble family Carpelan.
Poems in our exhibition are from Staten Kaupunki /La Ville/ The City, a book of poems by Bo Carpelan, and photographs by Pentti Sammallahti published in Helsinki in 2009.
Translation from Finnish to English by Silvester Mozzarella.
Nailya Alexander Gallery is pleased to present City of Hidden Lives, on view online Monday 1 March through Saturday 3 April. This unique online exhibition mingles the work of Alexey Titarenko (b. 1962, St. Petersburg) and Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki) with verses by the Finnish poet Bo Carpelan (1926–2011) and the Paris-based poet, translator, editor, and zheng harpist Fiona Sze-Lorrain to explore the singular relationship between the photographer and the city, particularly during the season of winter.
City of Hidden Lives explores the pervasive feelings of solitude and deprivation that people have experienced during this pandemic winter and offers a space to share those feelings through photography and poetry. While both Titarenko and Sammallahti are renowned for their work in cities and regions around the world, from Venice and Havana to far-flung regions of Asia and Africa, both have long been anchored in the cities where they were born and currently live and work. This exhibition includes Titarenko’s photographs of his native St. Petersburg in the 1990s, as well as his recent photographs of New York, where he has resided for almost fifteen years; and Sammallahti’s images of his native Helsinki, a subject to which he has always returned throughout his fifty-year career. In their work, the city is often a silent, solitary place: both birds and people wander alone or in small groups, dwarfed by buildings, trees, and waterways, against a backdrop of ice and snow. Yet in the midst of this quietude and desolation is a sense of serenity, and even intimacy; as Carpelan writes, “All’s silence, / all in balance.”
This sensation is achieved not only due to Titarenko’s and Sammallahti’s deeply felt love for their cities but also through each artist’s unparalleled gelatin silver printing process. A master printmaker, Sammallahti produces subtly textured prints whose broad tonality brings out the gentlest nuances of Scandinavian winter light; while Titarenko’s prints—combined with the effects of intentional camera movement, long exposure, and partial solarization—create an aura of magic and luminosity that is accented by selective toning with sepia, selenium, and gold.
The visual poetry of Sammallahti’s and Titarenko’s images is complemented by the written poetry of Carpelan and Sze-Lorrain. Carpelan, like Sammallahti, returns repeatedly to the motifs of coldness and ice and the solitude and harshness of winter; while Sze-Lorrain invokes the whiteness of snow and the questions of time and memory that also animate Titarenko’s work.
In the work of all four poets and photographers represented here, one theme remains the same: that of hope, and the transformation into a season of light, warmth, and rebirth. In Sammallahti’s work, this theme is most strongly expressed through the life-affirming, even playful presence of birds and animals; while in Titarenko’s, this theme emerges inevitably from a strong sense of the passage of time and of the power of light. In the words of Carpelan, “sooner or later / the ice will melt, / the sky will clear / and we’ll go on together. / Patience!”
