Finland - Born in 1974

One Flew Over the Photographer’s Studio

To produce her bird portraits, Sanna Kannisto travelled from Finland to Lake Baikal in Russia via South America and even Italy. It is, however, impossible to tell where you are when you look at these images of birds posed in front of an unchanging white background. They are reminiscent of the illustrations in 16th century scientific works, or paintings where the backdrop has been removed. And there’s an easy enough explanation: all these photographs were taken in a portable studio set-up that Kannisto takes with her on all her ornithological observation trips. Once the birds have been captured by professionals, she has them pose for a brief portrait session. They are fed and watered, then quickly released back into the wild.
Her almost Darwinian work – where photography meets scientific observation – reveals the birds in a new and unexpected light. Like any scientific journal worth its salt, each photograph is accompanied by the Latin name of the species photographed. By taking them out of their natural habitat, the lens captures the birds and offers them to us, free of distraction, to reveal their stunning plumage, the sublime details of their anatomy and the countless shapes of their beak.
Sanna Kannisto has had the opportunity to exhibit her work far beyond her native Finland, in the most prestigious American galleries, in museum photography exhibitions and in contemporary art collections. Proof, in needed, of how amazingly rich her images are.

LABYRINTHE VÉGÉTAL

Exhibition printed thanks to the support and expertise of CEWE.