In a previous review we stated that Sammallahti's work has
been a favorite among the staff at photo-eye for many years;
that still holds true. The lands he depicts are austere, foreign,
cold, and yet strangely inviting. Born and based in Finland,
he has traveled across the northern reaches of Europe and
Russia, across the peopled expanses of India and the empty
deserts of Mongolia. His images are melodic and balanced,
particularly this set from his homeland-stretches of quiet
coastline, fallow fields of stone and snow, lone gulls amidst
rocks and water, and endless dark waves of seawater. The
work in this diminutive, self-published monograph ranges
from the late 1960s until the early
1980s, a fruitful period during
which his image-making matured.
He sums up his thoughts on this
work with a few short words. "I
understood that you get a photograph,
you don't take it."
Pentti Sammallahti is represented by photo-eye Gallery. See his work
here.
To inquire about the availability of additional copies of this out-of-print book, please
email us.
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