Photography Oxford Festival Exhibition Highlights Part 1- Pentti Sammallahti

Today I took to my bike to visit about half of the exhibitions on offer at the festival. I will do another half next week, I don’t want saturation I want feeding. Feeding my eyes that is. Sadly I cannot say the whole festival has so far excited me although there have been some real highlights. I did the circuit that included Wadham, Pitt Rivers, Keble, Lady Margaret Hall, Maison Francaise, Studio 45 (closed), St John’s and Art Jericho (also closed). This is not a review, nor is it comprehensive, it is just a brief opinion of some

Wadham has the exhibition Designed to Deceive This exhibition explores the photograph as construct, rather than as truthful witness, showing photographs taken with the deliberate intention or unintended result of misleading the viewer and/or distorting the meanings contained within them. Whether subtly manipulated or dramatically retouched, these images disprove the earliest view of photography as the objective representation of a scene, and the long gone notion that the camera never lies.

It is full of well known pictures that have been manipulated before Photoshop and/or manipulated the viewer by the use. Interesting, diverting, not essential.

Keble has pictures coming out of Bangladesh. As you would expect in a show that has 6 or 7 photographers the subject matter and quality is varied, honestly some of it is pretty dire, but some of it was worth the trip, certainly worth a visit although the final piece on suicide is not joyous, predictably.

LMH has the exhibition of wooden churches. WOODEN CHURCHES – TRAVELLING IN THE RUSSIAN NORTH // Richard Davies

I was not surprised to find that this was really good, so much so that until, PENTTI SAMMALLAHTI, it was my favourite. This was the first exhibition today that is printed well, displayed in frames and a serious body. The churches are charming and the photographs often quite lovely. Displayed in the chapel at LMH, propped up on the wooden pews, the pictures suited the surroundings. In some ways I would have preferred to see them properly hung on walls but needs must and I would have preferred to see them than not.

Maison Francaise has  Bernard Plossu French photographer Bernard Plossu has never been shown in Britain. The Maison Française d’Oxford will show some of the major pictures which have dotted his career, as well as new work made recently in Britain.Plossu has had an influential career unattached to any institution or newspaper, producing a constant rich stream of exhibitions and books. His manner has been to photograph autobiographically but not diaristically: he is allusive and elliptical, and his photography connects to a wide culture of literature, music and cinema. 

Poorly hung, small images in non descript frames, some interesting and engaging images and as it was on the way to St John’s worth the stop over, just. Here is a better one

 

So to the Finns, there are three of them, the one that you should be heading for as the absolute highlight is  PENTTI SAMMALLAHTI. I have done a little research and here is a bit for you

About Pentti Sammallahti

Pentti Sammallahti was born in 1950 in Helsinki, Finland. Growing up, he was surrounded by the works of his grandmother, Hildur Larsson (1882-1952), a Swedish-born photographer, who worked for the Helsinki newspaper Kaiku in the early 1900s. After visiting The Family of Man exhibition at Helsinki Art Hall (1961) Sammallahti made his first photographs at age eleven. Pentti joined the Helsinki Camera Club in 1964. His first solo exhibition was in 1971.

Sammallahti has travelled widely as a photographer, from his native Scandinavia, across the Soviet Republics through Siberia, to Japan, India, Nepal, Morocco, Turkey, across Europe and Great Britain, and even to South Africa.

Sammallahti’s travels and interest in fine printing and lithography has led him to publish numerous portfolios of which the largest and most well known is “The Russian Way” (1996). As a benchmark figure in contemporary Finnish photography, his work has a supernatural sense of a moment in time with the sensitivity and beauty of the world displayed through its animalistic existence. His particular use of dogs, which reflects the human existential experience, shows the shared nature of the earth with a gentle humor and fleeting attitude.

Sammallahti describes himself as a wanderer who likes the nature of the great north, the silence, the cold, and the sea. He likes the people and the animals of far off places and he records the relationships between them and their environment.

As a master craftsman, he meticulously tones his prints, which come in various formats, from 4 by 5 inches in image size to panoramas of 6 by 14 inches. In 2010 for his retrospective exhibition in Helsinki he created large format pigment prints, about 9 by 21 inches and 15 by 35.5 inches in size.

As a passionate seeker of the perfect mechanical printing method, his own innovative printing techniques and reintroduction of the portfolio form have re-awakened broader interest in published photographic art. Influenced by the idea of ‘artist books’ – individual works in which the artist is responsible for the whole: photography, the making of prints, layout, design and typography, reproduction and often the actual printing process either with the offset or the gravure method.

Since 1979, Pentti Sammallahti has published thirteen books and portfolios and has received awards such as 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.

From 1974 to 1991 Sammallahti taught at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, retiring when he received a 15-year grant from the Finnish government, an unusually long endowment, which is no longer awarded. Both as a photographer and a teacher, he has had an enormous influence on a whole generation of documentary photographers in Scandinavia.
My advice is go and see his pictures. 

here are some more links with information and pictures by Pentti

https://www.lensculture.com/pentti-sammallahti

http://thephotographersgallery.org.uk/penttisammallahti

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jan/08/pentti-sammallahti-best-photograph-russia-winter

 

Photography Exhibitions Oxford September 2014

We are lucky that for the first time Oxford is awash with photography exhibitions. As a cultural city it is a constant complaint that in general photography is ignored, well not this month. The Photography Oxford Festival is now in full swing, we have reported on this many times already but as lovers of photography a wakeup call to go out and see some real pictures on walls rather than sitting at home looking at Flickr, 500px, Behance or wherever else you consume your photography, is a good thing.

The first point of call I would like to send you to is the Natural History Museum, the have the Wildlife Photography of the Year exhibition, held over for one week to coincide with the imaging workshops we are helping to run.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 Grand title winner Winner 2013 Animal Portraits Greg du Toit, South Africa

The festival itself has a plethora of exhibitions, I can’t tell you whether any are worth visiting yet as I have yet to do the tour of venues and the festival website is worse than a dogs dinner for images and decent information, it might look cool like the new Windows front page on your phone but it is poor, so here I have kindly created a decent list for you but in no particular order and without recommendations. The copy and pasting of this list does not look pretty, I know, I’m sorry but at least it gives you all the exhibition info in one place so you can work out where to go on your own tour of the festival

Exhibition Title	Photographers	Venue	Link
Custodians At the Photography Oxford Festival she will show, for the first time, a recent body of work entitled Custodians. Setting out to explore the extraordinary colleges and buildings of Oxford, and to meet the “Custodians” who play a pivotal role in perpetuating these world-renowned institutions, her work reflects issues of heritage, history, and stewardship.	Joanna Vestey	Studio 45 Studio 45: 45 Park Town, OX2 6SL	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/drew-gardner.html
The Descendants Born out of a passion for history, this series by award-winning photographer Drew Gardner recreates portraits of some of the world’s most famous historical figures with their direct descendants. This collection of photographs takes you on a unique journey through time.	Drew Gardner	Studio 45 Studio 45: 45 Park Town, OX2 6SL	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/drew-gardner.html
Bernard Plossu French photographer Bernard Plossu has never been shown in Britain. The Maison Française d’Oxford will show some of the major pictures that have dotted his career, as well as new work made recently in Britain.	Bernard Plossu	Maison Francaise Maison Francaise, 2-10 Norham Rd, OX2 6SE	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/bernard-plossu.html

In the Shadow of the Pyramids “ ‘In the Shadow of the Pyramids’ is a portrayal of Egypt through my own eyes. Guided by my childhood memories and a struggle to understand the country I call home, the series is a journey from 2005 to 2014 through Egypt to explore the essence of Egyptian identity in the hope of coming to terms with my own – from the time of Mubarak to the revolution and Egypt’s looming future.”	Laura El-Tantawy	Pitt Rivers Museum Long Gallery Pitt Rivers Museum, South Parks Rd, OX2 3PP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/laura.html
Broadhead’s Women 2014 ART JERICHO will present photographs by Maisie Maud Broadhead, a young London artist, in a mini retrospective of her work from the past four years, to include her new series of portraits from 2014. Last year Broadhead was awarded the Jerwood Makers Open, and earlier this year she was awarded the Brighton Pavilion Commission.	Maisie Maud Broadhead	Art Jericho Art Jericho, 6 King St, OX2 6DF	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/maisie-maud.html
Mathematicians and Justice Mariana Cook’s “Justice” series explores the artist’s fascination with those people who come to feel so passionately about fairness and freedom that they will risk their livelihoods, even their lives, to pursue justice; people for whom the “rule of law” is no mere abstraction, for whom human rights is a fiercely urgent concern. Cook’s “Mathematicians” series explores a similarly unique group of individuals.	Mariana Cook	Mathematical Institute Mathematical Institute, Radcliffe Observatory Qtr, Woodstock Rd, OX2 6GG	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/mariana-cook.html

Pentti Sammallahti You don’t take photographs, you receive them,” says Pentii Sammallahti He prefers to work during the winter months at dusk, when the light and mists create the mood he is most comfortable with. The White Sea in Russian has been the setting for some of his most memorable pictures.	Pentti Sammallahti	St. John’s College St John’s College, St Giles, OX1 3JP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/pentti.html
Arno Rafael Minkkinen Returning regularly to his native Finland, Arno Minkkinen has spent the last four decades taking self-portraits of his unclothed body, rarely including his face; connecting his body with his surroundings. He eschews manipulation of any kind, insisting that what the camera sees is what the viewer sees. The results are surreal landscapes blending the human form with land and water.	Arno Rafael Minkkinen	St. John’s College St John’s College, St Giles, OX1 3JP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/pentti.html
Persona Veli Granö explores themes surrounding alternative social realities in his work, posing a question of how an individual might aim to create their own reality if the one offered by the society does not seem fitting. Granö’s photographs deal with deviant individuals, or situations, that do not conform to the accepted social norms, standards and expectations.	Veli Granö	St. John’s College St John’s College, St Giles, OX1 3JP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/pentti.html

Defying the Laws of Gravity This exhibition will explore how the way of seeing through Bangladeshi eyes is contributing to this change. Nurtured by a growing confidence, an intellectual integrity and teachers with international perspective -many of them household names in photography – Pathshala students are developing a style particular to Bangladesh.	Shahidul Alam, Abir Abdullah, Anisul Hoque, Taslima Akhter, Tushikur Rahman, Sarker Protick & Jannatul Mawa	Keble College Keble College, Parks Rd, OX1 3PG	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/pathshala.html
Document Scotland Scotland today stands at a decisive moment in its history. Events in 2014 will shape how we relate to our neighbours and to the wider world. The exhibition ‘Document Scotland’ believes that photography can and should play a central part in documenting this epoch. The curators hope to leave a visual document, a testimony to the extraordinary times we are living in.	Document Scotland: Colin McPherson, Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, Stephen McLaren, and Sophie Gerrard	Wadham College, Squash Court Wadham College, Parks Rd, OX1 3PN	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/scotland.html
Designed to Deceive This exhibition explores the photograph as construct, rather than as truthful witness, showing photographs taken with the deliberate intention or unintended result of misleading the viewer and/or distorting the meanings contained within them.	Various	Wadham College, Chapel Wadham College, Parks Rd, OX1 3PN	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/designed-deceive.html
Serpentine The American, Mark Laita, has been photographing snakes for more than a decade. Few species of snakes have eluded his lens.	Mark Laita and Yann Layma	Old Fire Station Old Fire Station, 40 George St, OX1 2AQ	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/mark-laita.html

Papillons Yann Layma was attracted to creatures that fly rather than slither. A chance meeting turned the young Layma into the disciple of a leading entomologist who taught him all there was to know about these beautiful, delicate creatures.
Bus Stories A crowd of loners; a bus filled with people each looking at the floor, at sights running past windows, at the ceiling, but never at each other. We are all sitting on the same bus, perhaps we all travel in the same direction, we sit next to each other; it does not mean though that we are together.	Mimi Mollica	Jam Factory Jam Factory, 27 Park End St, OX1 1HU	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/mimi.html
Souvenirs Explores our relationship with photography as keepsake; the image as a record of experience or repository of memory in the light of the 21st century’s accelerated means of production and consumption of photography.	Clarita Lulic + Various	OVADA OVADA, The Warehouse, 14a Osney Lane, OX1 1NJ	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/souvenirs.html
Inside Mugabe’s Zimbabwe In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, journalists are an endangered species. His regime has bombed and banned newspapers, blown up radio stations, confiscated transmission equipment, kidnapped and deported foreign journalists, arrested, locked up, and beaten local journalists. Knowing all this, Hammond still undertook his mission to give a voice to the voiceless through his lens. And he has paid the price – harassed, interrogated, imprisoned.	Robin Hammond	Magdalen College Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium, Longwall St, OX1 4AU	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/zimbabwe.html

Susanna Majuri Susanna Majuri’s photographs are an exploration into photographic fiction as a place for encountering emotions, both positive and negative, with references to storytelling, literature, music, and folklore. Elements recognisable from storybooks merge with our own memories creating a dreamlike atmosphere.	Susanna Majuri	Story Museum ‘Safe’ Story Museum, Rochester House, 42 Pembroke St, OX1 1BP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/susanna-majuri.html
Restwert “Restwert” brings together work from two contemporary German photographers, Dietmar Eckell and Matthias Heiderich. The exhibition includes a selection of pieces from Eckell’s long-running project “Restwert” which examines the residue of human occupation in and inscription onto the landscape.	Matthias Heidierich Dietmar Eckell	O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle O3 Gallery, Oxford Castle Quarter, OX1 1AY	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/restwert.html
Photography and Healing Doctors asked the question “what good is photography” would have no hesitation is agreeing that modern medicine would be lost without X-rays, scans, and other imaging techniques. Showing a patient what is going on is the best way to further understanding, and with understanding comes the mental strength that aids the healing process.	Angelino Merendino, Wendy Sacks, Jon Brett, Adam Hahn	North Wall North Wall, South Parade, Summertown, OX2 7JN	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/photography-healing.html

Oxford Film Strips David Rhys Jones uses ceramics as a conduit for his documentary photography, creating semi-sculptural works, revealing interplay between surface and image. Port Meadow Dogs Rory Carnegie, an award-winning documentary photographer, has created a series using photographs made on walks over Oxford’s Port Meadow, combined digitally with studio shots, to create an ethereal, painterly image. Rachael Edgar Fresh from her post-graduate degree, she has created a new series of contemporary work using a very early photographic process, Gum Bichromate on glass, first used by the nineteenth century pioneers in photography.	David Rhys Jones, Rory Carnegie and Rachael Edgar	Sarah Wiseman Gallery Sarah Wiseman Gallery, 40-41 South Parade, Summertown, OX2 7JL	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/rory.html
World Press Photo 2014 World Press Photo organizes the leading international contest in visual journalism. 53 prizewinning photographers, 25 nationalities and 151 selected pictures are exhibited here for their UK debut. World Press Photo’s aim is to generate wide public interest in and appreciation of the work of photographers and other visual journalists.	Various The international jury of the 57th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by American photographer John Stanmeyer of the VII Photo Agency as the World Press Photo of the Year 2013.	Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University, Glass Tank, Gipsy Lane, OX3 0BP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/worldpress.html
On Solid Ground “On Solid Ground” tells the stories of those starting afresh in unfamiliar cities, rebuilding homes they were forced to abandon decades before, or embracing new means of survival in the face of crisis.	PANOS photographers	Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University, Garden Courtyard, Gipsy Lane, OX3 0BP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/solid-ground.html

People’s Project Oxfordshire’s demographic posits people from all over the world, so the idea of ’Home’ for some will be sensitive and complicated. In partnership with the local press, we will publish our work to encourage the general public to respond and send in their photographs, leading up to and culminating with the exhibition at Oxford Brookes University.	Various	Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University, Public Piazza, Gipsy Lane, OX3 0BP	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/peoples-project.html
Mother and Father “Mother and Father” is a moving photo-novel of the final years of a 60-year marriage. His vision reflects the bond between his mother and father, which even Alzheimer’s cannot break. They become symbols in a story of balance and tension, which is both domestic and epic. These thoughtful, often melancholy, images form a personal piece that is simultaneously universal and timeless.	Paddy Summerfield	337 Banbury Road 337 Banbury Rd, OX2 7PL	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/paddy.html
Wooden Churches These churches are the remnants of thousands that were built all over Russia from the time of Prince Vladimir, who, on his conversion to Christianity in 988 ‘ordained that wooden churches should be built and established where pagan idols had previously stood.’ Most of those that survive are to be found in the sparsely populated northwestern corner of Russia.	Richard Davies	Lady Margaret Hall, Chapel Lady Margaret Hall, Norham Gdns, OX2 6QA	http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/richard-davies.html

Why We Print this Picture This exhibition represents a selection of photography from the charity Oxfam, starting with advertisements from the 1960s through to work commissioned this year, focused around their efforts in Africa – the region of the world that attracts the most criticism in terms of perpetuating a negative image. Through this selection we are able to witness how Oxfam’s use of photography has evolved from images of starving children to a more nuanced approach to photography in an attempt to utilise its power to create change.

Oxfam Archive Images

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall, Norham Gdns, OX2 6QA

http://www.photographyoxford.co.uk/whyweprint.html