Sändo, Finland (peninsula), 1975
Gelatin silver print
Image: 8 1/8 x 10 7/8 inches
Paper: 11 x 13 7/8 inches
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
This photograph from southwestern Finland shows Sammallahti's extraordinary versatility as an artist — one whose work is equally astonishing whether he is working with a panoramic camera, as in his work in Russia, or with smaller formats, as in many of his later travels; and whether he is focusing on magical, intimate moments in nature or capturing majestic, expansive landscapes, as in this image. Sammallahti's adroit printing allows the sea and sky to blend together, with the horizon just barely visible through the glimmering mist and fog; a faint glow from the sky illuminates scattered clouds and highlights the edge of the curving path. Like Kihti, Finland, this image is from 1975, early in Sammallahti's career; here, too, his interest in abstraction is apparent, as the subtle printing and mysterious atmosphere of the scene emphasize the dark, dramatic shapes of the path and the distant island.
Ristisaari aus: Archipelago, Finland, 1972
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image 5 3/4 x 9 1/4 inches
Paper 9 1/2 x 12 inches
The Baltic Sea, Finland, 1968
Gelatin silver print, signed under the image on recto
Image 6 5/8 x 8 inches
Paper 9 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches
Kihti (Moon Rising), Finland, 1978
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image I8 3/8 x 10 1/2 inches
Paper 10 7/8 x 13 7/8 inches
Kirkkonummi, Finland, 2016
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image: 4 11/16 x 3 3/4 in. (11.9 x 9.5 cm)
Paper: 5 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. (14.9 x 12.1 cm)
Image: 9 5/8 x 8 inches
Paper: 11 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches
In a 2012 review for The Guardian, writer Sean O’Hagan notes that Sammallahti “captures humans and animals in worlds of their own, lost in reverie: dogs chase birds, birds cautiously approach humans or circle above them…But what is most palpable is the silence of the surroundings. Looking at the photograph, you feel on the threshold of another, more mysterious world that is indeed here and far away.”
Kihti, Finland, 1975
Gelatin silver print
Image 8 3/4 x 11 3/4 inches
Paper 10 3/4 x 13 7/8 inches
Pentti Sammallahti is well-known for his travels around the world, where he creates dazzling images of animals and nature in such far-flung locations as Solovki Island in Russia or the Outer Hebrides of Scotland; yet some of the photographer's most powerful work has been made in his native country of Finland, where he stands today as one of the country's most beloved national treasures and a towering figure in the history of Finnish photography. In this image from 1975, early in his distinguished career, Sammallahti presents a strikingly abstract scene. A strong diagonal composition is anchored by, on the one hand, what appears to be a rush of liquid, reflective and richly textured; and, on the other, a shimmering celestial body, suggestive of the moon. Sammallahti's masterful gelatin silver print is characterized by cool, subtle tones that reinforce the impression of both the sea and the night sky.
Kökar, Finland (tree and water), 1975
Gelatin silver print
Image 6 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches
Paper 7 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches
In this image from the Finnish island of Kökar, the glittering texture of the sea serves as the backdrop for the silhouette of a small, gnarled tree; the tree's perch, a hill or cliffside, is printed in a deep, dramatic black. The unusual angle and framing of this image creates the sensation of a two-dimensional scene, one in which the tree stands against a shimmering wall of water; Sammallahti has printed the image in high contrast, so that the innumerable eddies of the sea sparkle in bright shades of silver, dazzling the eye. A gentle vignette draws the viewer's attention continually back to the modest tree, conferring upon it a sense of quiet majesty and spirituality.
Sottunga, Åland, Finland, 1970
Gelatin silver print
Image: 8 7/8 x 11 inches
Paper: 11 x 13 3/4 inches
Signed and dated on recto
Suomenlahti aus: Archipelago, The Baltic Sea, 1979
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image 8 x 10 7/8 inches
Paper 10 7/8 x 13 7/8 inches
The Baltic Sea, Finland, 1981
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image 7 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches
Paper 9 1/4 x 11 7/8 inches
Nice, France, 1997
Gelatin silver print
Image: 6 3/4 x 8 3/8 in. (17.1 x 21.3 cm)
Paper: 8 x 9 7/8 in. (20.3 x 25.1 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Turkey, Sea of Marmara, 2000
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Toned gelatin silver print
Image 5 1/2 x 8 in. (14.0 x 20.3 cm)
Paper 8 x 10 in (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Archival pigment print
Image 14 1/8 x 18 3/8 in. (35.9 x 46.7 cm)
Paper 16 1/2 x 23 3/8 in. (41.9 x 59.4 cm)
Skeleton Coast, Namibia, 2005
Gelatin silver print
Image: 5 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. (14.9 x 19.7 cm)
Paper: 7 7/8 x 9 3/4 in. (20 x 24.8 cm)
The Atlantic (Wave), Portugal, 2010
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image 10 1/8 x 7 3/4 inches
Paper 11 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches
Minorca, Spain (wave crashing), 2014
Gelatin silver print
Image: 7 3/4 x 6 1/4 in. (19.7 x 15.9 cm)
Paper: 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)
Signed and dated on recto
Image 10 x 7 7/8 inches
Paper 11 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches
The Balearics, Spain, 2014
Gelatin silver print, signed on recto
Image: 9 3/8 x 8 inches
Paper 11 7/8 x 9 1/4 inches
Nailya Alexander Gallery is pleased to present Pentti Sammallahti and the Sea, on view online Monday 26 July through Tuesday 7 September 2021.
Pentti Sammallahti is well known for his travels around the world and for his dazzling images of animals and nature in such far-flung locations as Solovki Island in Russia and the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Equally powerful is the work he has made in his native country of Finland, where he stands today as one of the country's most beloved national treasures and a towering figure in the history of Finnish photography.
Pentti Sammallahti and the Sea highlights the artist’s special relationship with the landscapes of Northern Europe, Asia, and Africa and with the majesty of the sea in various seasons and moods. The exhibition also includes rare photographs from 1968 and the early 1970s, many of which are especially spiritually charged and border with abstraction. In the 1978 photograph Kihti, the moon rises above an expansive space where sky and sea merge, producing another dimension and a sense of timelessness. Similarly, the horizon is just barely visible through the glimmering mist and fog in Sändo, Finland, from 1975; a faint celestial glow illuminates scattered clouds and the edge of the curving path. A mysterious atmosphere around the abandoned boat in Ristisaari aus: Archipelago, Finland, 1972, has a mythical presence. Sammallahti captures a unique austere beauty of the Baltic Sea, its dark, deep waters shifting beneath looming cloudy skies, while a photograph taken in the rain suggests a symphony of sounds from the water droplets and the waves blowing in the wind.
In more recent photographs of the sea taken during the artist’s travels, the mood is joyous and romantic. These images are often animated by birds, as in Nice, France, 1997, and Turkey, Sea of Marmara, 2000; in other photographs, Sammallahti captures the impressive roar of the ocean, as in The Atlantic, Portugal, 2010. Small sizes of these photographs offer an intimate experience with these poetic images.
Sammallahti’s work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions since the 1970s. Since 1979, he has published more than thirteen books and portfolios and has received awards including the Samuli Paulaharju Prize of the Finnish Literature Society, State Prizes for Photography, Uusimaa Province Art Prize, Daniel Nyblin Prize, and the Finnish Critics Association Annual. In 2004, the renowned photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson ranked Sammallahti among his 100 favorite photographers for his Foundation's inaugural exhibition in Paris.
Sammallahti’s work can be found in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the Moderna Museet, Stockholm; the Finnish State Collections and the Photographic Museum of Finland, among other museums and institutions.
