Sanna Kannisto
act of flying
Photographic orbits
We are accustomed to expect of the photographic medium the capacity to arrest, then to record, and finally to collect. Photography halts motion, captures it on a registering device, and saves it in the archives of the preserved image.(…).
Kannisto’s images (…) using the language of science, in the world of knowledge, where collecting, observation and marking are usually followed by mastery and analysis. (…)
The series Hummingbird flight, Eupetomena macroura 1-12, (2005) acts at the limits of photography in two significant ways: the Hummingbird challenges the framing as well as the speed of the production of the image. Kannisto tests photography’s ability to faithfully reproduce the tones of the tiny wings, even if the wing strokes and flight patterns are mapped against the invisible coordinates of a white space, which in turn offers the bird full attention. Studies of motion hold an important place in the history of photography as images that reveal things which ordinary sight could not perceive. The starting point for their analysis is often the stopping of time, a negation of movement. Motion studies are sculptural – they tell us more about charged force and potential movement than about movement itself as a flowing and experienced event.
The photography of Sanna Kannisto offers not only a compellingly stopped moment, but also an intense sharpness, which brings nature’s details, albeit in unnatural poses, within our reach. (…) Regarding her images we can also speak of two different kinds of arrest – stopped motion and staged pause, i.e. still life – a kind of ‘tableau vivant’ realised in photography.
In Kannisto’s images we see many different views from scientific research laboratories. Often they appear as empty stages, devoid of people, but there are always instruments and markings left behind, which reveal that experiments are continuously in progress. We are given the feeling of having intruded a place one does not belong to. (…) Without the goal directed activities of scientists and without a reassuring narration explaining the aims of the experiments or the significance of the various life-forms within the ecological system, we are at once drawn into the forest’s strangeness.
from: HARRI LAAKSO, catalogue of the Helsinki Photography Festival 2005
Biography
born 1974 in Hämeenlinna/FI, lives and works in Helsinki
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022
Research on Wonder, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Sense of Wonder, Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne
2020
Sanna Kannisto: Sense of Wonder, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
2019
Fieldwork, Centro de la Imagen, Lima
Observing Eye, Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki
2018
Wanderer, Observer and Conveyor, EMOP photofestival, Gallery Taik, Berlin
A Song System, Metronom Gallery, Modena
2017
Ulisse Aldrovandi Museum, Bologna
Gallery Metronom, Modena
2015
Local Vernacular, Helsinki Contemporary, Helsinki
Local Vernacular, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
2013
Far, Fabbrica Arte Rimini, Galleria d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Rimini
2012
Fieldwork, Le Château d’Eau, Toulouse
Gallery Taik Persons, Berlin
Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
2011
Sorlandets Kunstmuseum, Kristiansand
Fieldwork, Aperture Gallery, New York
Gallery Kalhama & PIIPPO Contemporary, Helsinki
2010
Close Observer, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Le centre photographique d'lle-de-France CPIF, Pintault Compault (mit Ikka Halso)
Festival of Photography, Knokke-Heist
Äärimmäisyyksien yhteinen tekijä, WAM, Turku
Baltimore Contemporary, Baltimore
Für Hund und Katz ist auch noch Platz,Art Foyer DZ Bank, Frankfurt am Main
The romantic construct,Prague Bienniale, Prague
2008
Observations, Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt
Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Contemporary Art Centre, Bignan
Korjaamo Culture Factory, Gallery 1 & 2, Helsinki
Etrange Fascination, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt
2007
act of flying, Georg Kargl BOX, Vienna
2006
Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta
Tangle* *enchevêtrement, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Yours Gallery, Warsaw
Private Collection, Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Berlin
Gallery F-Station, Month of Photography in Krakow, Krakow
Galleria K, Huittinen
Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen
2004
Private Collection, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
2002
MinäSinäMe, Finnish Institute, Paris
Finnish Institute, Madrid
Hippolyte Photographic Gallery, Helsinki
2001
CuLTUR, Västerås
VB-Photographic Centre, Kuopio
Rantagalleria, Oulu
2000
Gallery of the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
Hyvinkää Art Museum, Hyvinkää
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Böse Blumen, ERES Projects, Munich
BESTIAIRES, Centre Culturel Jacques Brel, Thionville
2022
Snowflakes and Other Surprises, Landskrona Foto, Sweden
Festival photo of La Baden-Gacilly, Baden
Snowflakes and Other Surprises, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen
2021
New Perspectives Through Photography - 25 Years of Helsinki School, Kunsthalle Helsinki
Model Animal, Kunsthaus Göttingen, Göttingen
Langt ud i skoven, Skovhuset Kunst & Natur, Værløse
Whose Natur?, Jyväskylä art Museum, Jyväskylä
2020
Illusionary Observations, Museum für Photographie Braunschweig
Frischer Wind aus dem Norden!, Kunsthalle St. Annen, Lubeck
Working on it, Helsinki Contemporary
Life under Threat: Intersections of art and science, Sinebrychoff Art Museum, Helsinki
2018
Nature as a Playgrounde, The Museum of Photography, Seoul
Considering Finnland, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen and Port25 Raum für Gegenwartskunst, Mannheim
Endangered Species: Artists on the Fornt Line of Biodiversity, Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA
2017
Kerava Art Museum, Kerava
Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
2016
Les Explorateurs, Parc de Clères, Clères
Longing for Landscape – Landscape Photography, Tieranatomisches Theater, Berlin
Paradise Lost, Kunsthalle and Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden-Rot
2015
Fotografia Contemporanea dall’Europa nord-occidentale, Fondazione Fotografia Modena
2014
Collective Collection, volet 2, BBB centre d’art, Toulouse
Summer Selections– De Buck Gallery, New York City, New York
Asombrosas afinidades, PHE2014,Fundación Antonio Saura. Casa Zavala, Cuenza
Nordic Light International Festival of Photography, Kristiansund
Le bestiaire des photographes,Centre culturel Henri-Desbals, Toulouse
2013
ARTE Vidéo Night 5/ screening, Palais de Tokyo, Paris
Reality Bites(2 Nov. 2012 – 14 April 2013),Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
Drôles d’oiseaux, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
The Near and the Distant – Photography and Space, Künstlerhaus Dortmund
2012
Jäger und Gejagte - Insekten in der Gegenwartskunst, Museum Villa Rot, Burgrieden-Rot
State of the Art - New Contemporary Photography, NRW-Forum, Dusseldorf
2011
A Female View. Part 2-aus der Helsinki School, Foto Raum, Vienna
Beautiful Vagabonds, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York
Essays on Geopoetics, 8th Mercos ul Biennial, Porto Alegre
2010
Strange Travelers, curated by Mark Dion, Tanja Bonakdar Gallery, New York
Wald, Städtische Galerie Waldkaiburg, Waldkraiburg
Speed, Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas
Repeat All, Centro Cultural Chacao, Caracas
2009
The Tree, Fuglsang Kunstmuseum, Toreby
Les Nuits d’été, La Galerie la Ferronnerie, Paris
Urban Story, Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki
Contemporary art in Finland and Sweden, Eskilstuna Konstmuseum, Eskilstuna
Nature en kit, MUDAC, Lausanne
2008
Struggle for life, ERES-Stiftung, Munich
observing beast, time, evolution – Kunst und Naturwissenschaft, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim
CPIF - Le Centre Photographique d'Ile de France, Pontault-Combault
2007
Repeat all, Centro Cultural Matucana 100, Santiago de Chile
Forschen und Erfinden - Die Recherche mit Bildern in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur
Self-timer, National Museum of Bucharest, Bukarest
Eläinten aika – Age of the Animal, Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki
Photo Finnish - The Helsinki School, The Stenersen Museum, Oslo
2006
Selvudløser / Self-Timer, Kunsthallen Nikolaj – Nikolaj, Copenhagen Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen
Art, Life & Confusion, 47th October Salon 2006 - The Belgrade Biennial, Belgrade Cultural Centre, Belgrade
3 photographes finlandais, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Focus Finland, KBB - Kültur Büro Barcelona
Repeat All, Vevey
Vidifestival06 - The International Festival of Video art of Valencia, Valencia
Art et Science: Nature Objective, Galerie de la maison de la culture de Nevers
Art Supermarket, Pikasso, Helsinki
Glasgow Festival of Contemporary Visual Art, Tramway, Glasgow
The Faraway Nearby, White Box, New York
Self-timer/ Selbstauslöser, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
Presence, Wäinö Aaltonen Art Museum, Turku
2005
Cinema Capacete V – loop // not video, nor cinema, neither televison, Florianópolis
Trophées, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
The Helsinki School – A New Approach, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
Paris Photo 2005, for Gallery Van Zoetendaal and Gallery Taik, Amsterdam, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
To be continued, Helsinki Photography Festival, Kunsthalle, Helsinki
To Look or to See, the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
Personally, Kulturhuset, Stockholm
À Table(s), Art Center Chamarande - Domaine Départemental de Chamarande, Chamarande
Kallankukka ja muita terälehtiä, Hippolyte Photographic Gallery, Helsinki
Elina Brotherus invite sur La Cimaise, FRAC Haute-Normandie, Sotteville lès Rouen
2004
PhotoFesta 2004, Maputo, Mozambique
Art Forum Berlin – Messe Berlin, for Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris, Messegelände Berlin, Berlin
The world of Objects, Tampere Art Museum, Tampere
Festival de photographie nature et paysage 2004, La Gacilly
La Maison des Arts d’Antony, Paris
30 by Taik, the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
Arpenteuses, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
The world of Objects, Kunsthalle, Helsinki
2003
Au bord du lac ...de Paris a Zürich, Erlenbach-Zürich, Zurich
Fünf Positionen Finnischer Fotografie, Kunstverein Schwerte, Schwerte
Nuoret 2003, Kunsthalle, Helsinki
Selfportrait, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
2002
Photography and Video, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere
Iquitos–Helsinki.com, Galerie La Ferronnerie, Paris
Masters of Arts, the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
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