Rapakivi ?, c-print framed by the artist, 45 x 53 cm


Esko Männikkö was born in 1959 in Pudasjärvi and lives in Oulu, in the far North of Finland. The inhabitants of his own surroundings became his first photographic interest. A first series of Hot Portraits from the Great Cold made him famous throughout the world. In Finland, United States and Scotland, the artist has photographed people, places, and details, always far from anonymity. His subjects offer themselves freely and the viewer has the immediate possibility of sharing a profound intimacy. They seem to be alone in front of their state of being and nothing else, confident that they can express it without being judged or betrayed. Männikkö respects his subjects and protects them from the intrusion of prying eyes. Dense in descriptive details, and at the same time naked, his photograph portraits reveal more truth than we are capable of absorbing.

The Suzy Shammah Gallery will exhibit the new series of photographs from the cycle Flora & Fauna, realized by Esko Männikkö between 2003 and 2004. The images are almost abstract but nevertheless, after a closer scrutiny, reveal figurative forms. Nothing is quite what it seems to be: from an amorphous mass animal shapes suddenly rise, confront us with a frozen stare, just to disappear into a maze of colours and reflections. They are direct, simple images of disturbing beauty. The images of Männikkö go right to the heart of the spirit.

Organized Freedom 61, 2001, c-print mounted on cardboard, 101 x 84 cm

Pelkosenniemi 1993, c-print mounted on cardboard, 55 cm x 63 cm