Pentti Sammallahti
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Nice, France (seagull), 1997
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
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)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Luxor, Egypt (sails), 2001
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 6 x 4 3/16 in. (15.2 x 10.6 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Hydra, Greece (dog in window), 1975
Gelatin silver print
Paper 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Varanasi, India (man on dock), 1999
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 5/8 x 4 in. (14.3 x 10.2 cm)
Paper 7 7/8 x 5 5/8 in. (20 x 14.3 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
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)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Pécs, Hungary (two horses), 1979
Gelatin silver print
Image 6 7/8 x 6 7/8 in. (17.5 x 17.5 cm)
Paper 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Obuko, Gambia (monkey and bird), 2009
Gelatin silver print
Image 6 x 4 1/2 in. (15.2 x 11.4 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Budapest, Hungary, 1980
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 7/8 x 4 1/2 in. (14.9 x 11.4 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Ristisaari, Finland (frog in water), 1974
Gelatin silver print
Image 7 7/8 x 6 3/8 in. (20 x 16.2 cm)
Paper 9 7/8 x 8 in. (25.1 x 20.3 cm)
A landmark figure in contemporary Finnish photography, Sammallahti was 24 when he took this photograph of a frog. His early photographs create a fairy-tale world, mysterious legends of forests and lakes. He has a supernatural sense of a moment in time with the sensitivity to the beauty and wonder of the world.
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Stio, Italy (cat and doors), 1999
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 4 1/2 x 4 9/16 in. (11.4 x 11.6 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Sikinos, Greece (stairs), 2010
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 6 1/8 x 7 7/16 in. (15.6 x 18.9 cm)
Paper 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Islanti, Iceland (cats and dried fish), 1980
Gelatin silver print
Image 3 9/16 x 4 3/4 in. (9.1 x 12.1 cm)
Paper 4 3/4 x 6 in. (12.1 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Folegandros, Greece (cats on rocks), 2010
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image 4 5/8 x 4 5/8 in. (11.8 x 11.8 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Swayambhunath, Nepal (dogs on steps), 1994
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 5/8 x 8 1/2 in. (14.3 x 21.6 cm)
Paper 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Varanasi, India (Dogs Rolling), 1999
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 5/8 x 4 1/2 in. (14.3 x 11.4 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Cilento, Italy (dog and reflection), 1999
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Archival pigment print
Image 14 5/8 x 34 5/8 in. (37.2 x 88.0)
Paper 17 1/8 x 37 7/8 in. (43.5 x 96.2 cm)
Gelatin silver print
Image 2 13/16 x 6 13/16 in. (7.1 x 17.3 cm)
Paper 5 x 8 in. (12.7 x 20.3 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Cilento, Italy (white horse), 2000
Toned gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image 5 7/8 x 4 7/16 in. (14.9 x 11.3 cm)
Paper 8 x 6 in. (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Kemiö, Finland (hammock), 1996
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated on recto
Image 7 5/8 x 7 7/8 in. (19.4 x 20 cm)
Paper 11 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (29.8 x 24.1 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Pyhäjärvi, Finland (sleeping boy and dog), 2000
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 1/2 x 8 1/8 in. (14.0 x 20.6 cm)
Paper 8 x 10 in. (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Western Cape, South Africa (dog and bird), 2002
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image 6 1/4 x 8 3/4 in. (15.9 x 22.2 cm)
Paper 7 7/8 x 9 7/8 in. (20 x 25.1 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Swayambhunath, Nepal (monkey under tree), 1994
Archival pigment print
14 3/16 x 7 7/16 in. (36 x 18.9 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki
Varanasi, India, 1999
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
5 13/16 x 4 1/4 in. (14.8 x 10.8 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Houston, Texas (two birds), 1998
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image 4 3/8 x 5 1/4 in. (11.1 x 13.3 cm)
Paper 6 x 8 in. (15.2 x 20.3 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Humlebaek, Denmark (seagull), 1999
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Titled and dated in pencil on verso
Image 5 5/16 x 3 9/16 in. (13.5 x 9.1 cm)
Paper 7 x 4 3/4 in. (17.8 x 12.1 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Kirkkonummi, Finland (two swans), 2016
Gelatin silver print
Image 9 5/8 x 8 in. (24.5 x 20.3 cm)
Paper 12 x 9 3/8 in. (30.4 x 23.8 cm)
Despite his frequent attention to dogs, cats, and other animals during his many travels, Sammallahti’s work finds its true apotheosis in birds. Residents of the land, sea, and sky, birds find their way into the artist’s field of vision no matter what continent or country he explores. In some photographs, they fill the frame as a flock, alighting from a tree or field, their speed and restlessness mirroring the artist’s own itinerant spirit; in others, one or two stands alone, sanctifying the spot with its quiet presence and its choice to break flight. In many photographs, the small shape of a bird is the anchor that unifies the entire composition, holding its own beneath a staggering sky, or bringing delicate balance to a jumble of branches or power lines.
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.”
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Minorca, Spain (wave crashing), 2014
Gelatin silver print
Signed and dated on recto
Titled and dated on verso
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)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Lake Numakawa, Japan, 2005
Toned gelatin silver print
Signed and dated in pencil on recto
Image 9 7/8 x 8 in. (25.1 x 20.3 cm)
Paper 11 7/8 x 9 1/2 in. (30.2 x 24.1 cm)
Pentti Sammallahti (b. 1950, Helsinki)
Seoul, South Korea (three birds), 2016
Toned gelatin silver print
Image 7 1/8 x 6 1/2 in. (18.1 x 16.5 cm)
Paper 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)
Nailya Alexander Gallery is pleased to present Pentti Sammallahti: Summertime, on view online Monday 3 August - Friday 28 August 2020. This exhibition includes images from over forty years of the artist’s career, from the 1970s to the present, and celebrates the light, warmth, and freedom of summer.
Born in 1950 in Helsinki, Pentti Sammallahti stands today as a landmark figure in Scandinavian photography, renowned worldwide for his emotive images of animals and nature and for his masterfully crafted gelatin silver prints. His work expresses the beauty and wonder of the world through his far-flung travels across Siberia, Japan, India, Nepal, Turkey, Africa, the British Isles, and both Eastern and Western Europe, as well as in his native Finland.
Pentti Sammallahti: Summertime embraces the photographer’s famously peripatetic spirit by including images from almost every continent that capture the unique atmosphere of season. As always, Sammallahti’s keen eye for the personalities of birds and animals and for the distinctive light of each locale is on full display. The freedom and spontaneity of the season is depicted in photographs of flocks of birds wheeling above the Sea of Marmara in Turkey, or alighting en masse from a tree in Delhi; while images of children in a hammock in a softly lit Finnish forest and of dogs sprawled across a sunny staircase in Nepal speak to summer’s languid, unhurried pace. Sammallahti’s attention to the synchronicities in the seeming wildness of the world is reflected in his careful compositions: reflections and mirroring abound in his work, communicating not just a sense of the playfulness of the world but also a feeling of harmony and peace.
Sammallahti’s work has been shown in both solo and group exhibitions since the 1970s; this year, he was the subject of the solo exhibition Distant Land: Pentti Sammallahti at Fotografiska in Stockholm. 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.