Nature photographer Hannu Hautala returns to the spotlight as the Salo Art Museum Roundhouse opens its 2026 exhibition year

Salo Art Museum opens its 2026 exhibition year with an extensive retrospective of the legendary Finnish nature photographer Hannu Hautala (1941–2023), titled A Boy Who Loved Birds. Hautala was Finland’s first professional nature photographer, for whom birds were a lifelong and passionate interest. Hautala's most extensive museum exhibition to date brings together over 100 photographs from a career spanning more than five decades. The exhibition will be on display at the Roundhouse 24 January – 3 May 2026.

Hannu Hautala’s exhibition at Salo Art Museum is built around the wonder of the Finnish seasonal cycle. The photographs range from the snow-laden trees of Riisitunturi to the misty summer fell landscapes of northeastern Finland. Birdlife plays a central role in the exhibition: swans, Siberian jays, cranes, and eagles were among Hautala’s favourite subjects. His breakthrough photograph, Mating Eagles, depicting a theme not previously seen anywhere in the world, was selected as Press Photo of the Year in 1973.

For decades, Hautala was the nation’s best-known nature photographer, paving the way for today’s photographers. His pioneering books, such as Kuukkelin maa (1983), published in English as A Year in Kuusamo, significantly shaped how Finnish nature is viewed and photographed. His books were printed in tens of thousands of copies, and the hundreds of slide lectures he personally presented across Finland drew captivated audiences. Hautala was a familiar media figure whose images have become part of Finland’s shared visual memory.

Hautala sought to convey his deep, personal experience of the enchantment of nature by creating the illusion of untouched wilderness. At the same time, he was acutely aware from an early age of the disappearance of old-growth forests. In his work as a photographer, Hautala emphasised the importance of spending unhurried time in the forest and the knowledge of nature. The infinitely patient photographer could spend days at a time in photographic hides, even in challenging conditions. He had an exceptional understanding of bird species, their behaviour and habitats in northeastern Finland. Hautala's imagery is characterised by intimate knowledge of his subjects and a skilful, sensitive use of light.

From the early 1980s onwards, Hautala worked exclusively with colour slide film. The exhibition at the Roundhouse has been assembled primarily by digitising original 35 mm slides from Hautala’s archive and producing exhibition prints from these files. Also included are rarely seen contemporary prints, such as black-and-white photographs from the 1960s and 1970s that Hautala printed himself. The exhibition thus offers a snapshot of nature photography before the breakthrough of digitalisation and the ease and possibilities brought by digital technology. Hautala’s working methods are illustrated through a documentary portrait and archive materials.

Works produced using different techniques fill all exhibition spaces of Salo Art Museum. This is the first large-scale retrospective museum exhibition of a nature photographer in Finland. The exhibition is curated by museum director emerita Elina Heikka.

Hannu Hautala was Finland’s first professional nature photographer and a key figure in the rising appreciation of Finnish nature photography. From 1979 onwards, Hannu and Irma Hautala lived in Kuusamo. Over the course of his career, Hautala took more than 1.5 million photographs and contributed to approximately 60 books. In 2007, Hannu Hautala donated his life’s work to the Hannu Hautala Foundation, established in Kuusamo to promote Finnish nature photography. During his career, Hautala received numerous significant honours, including the Pro Finlandia Medal (2014), the Lifetime Achievement Award for the Promotion of Public Information (2012), and an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Oulu (2002). In 2025, the Finnish Nature Photographers’ Association (SLV) named Hautala Finland’s National Nature Photographer.

The exhibition has been produced in collaboration with the Hannu Hautala Foundation.

Further information:
Elina Heikka, curator of the exhibition
+358 50 495 2552
elinahelenaheikka@gmail.com

Minna Nyqvist, curator, Salo Art Museum
+358 44 778 4888
minna.nyqvist@salo.fi