Ismo Hölttö’s photographs at Ateneum

Ismo Hölttö continues Ateneum’s series of exhibitions showcasing the classics of Finnish photography. The present exhibition was preceded by collections of work by Matti Saanio, Caj Bremer, Eino Mäkinen and Aho & Soldan. With these exhibitions, Ateneum reflects the key role that photography has played in the history of Finnish art.

The works displayed at this exhibition date from the 1960s, when Ismo Hölttö worked as a goldsmith. He spent his free time touring the streets of Helsinki and the Finnish countryside, including North Karelia, Savonia and the Oulu Region, with his 1962 Rolleiflex at the ready. An active member of the Helsinki Camera Club, he is self-taught in the techniques of photography and developed his expression further. He is a master of light and intuitive composition, which has won him accolades in many competitions, such as the 1967 European Photographer award in West Berlin. In the same year, he also won the photographic competition marking the 50^th anniversary of Finnish independence.

As a photographer of people, Hölttö forms part of the humanistic photographic canon, dominated by an interest in people and the environment and circumstances in which they live. “After the mid-1960s, Hölttö’s work acquired a new, clearly social and political perspective,” says Riitta Raatikainen, the curator of the exhibition. “He made numerous trips around Finland to show, through his work, how one-dimensional the earlier, romanticised image of Finland was.” Hölttö wanted show another reality, which is also conveyed in the three photographic books created by Hölttö and Mikko Savolainen: Suomea tämäkin [This too is Finland] (1970); Raportti Suomen mustalaisista [A report on the Roma of Finland] (1972) and Vanhuksia [The eldery](1982).

Hölttö’s images are deeply anchored in time, and they bring the past close to the viewer today. At the same time, they are completely timeless and universal in their insight into the human condition. Ismö Hölttö has dedicated himself to telling the “ordinary people’s story” – always poignant and moving. The great narrative lives on and is retold through the lives of the individual.

The artist’s work is supported by the Kone Foundation and Patricia Seppälä Foundation.

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Opening hours: Tue, Fri 10-18 | Wed, Thu 10-20 | Sat, Sun 10-17 | Closed on Mondays 

Tickets: €13/11, free admission for visitors under the age of 18