I had the unusual
pleasure (unusual in that I am normally at work when these events take place)
of being able to attend the opening of the new exhibition at 'The Side' gallery
in Newcastle. I knew nothing about the photographer Pentti Sammallahti and deliberately
did not research his work beforehand as I wanted to experience it fresh and
without preconception. I often find that internet research of photographs can
be disappointing, often the images are not comparable to the quality of seeing
the work in the flesh. I guess this is often a necessity as it is all too easy
to steal from the web so works are uploaded at low resolutions. In the case of
Sammallahti I am glad I did not try to research beforehand - he does not have a
website and the images I have been able to find of his work are not comparable
to the quality of his exquisite prints.
It was great to see
the gallery well attended - the future of 'The Side' has been in doubt recently
because their Arts Council funding has been withdrawn. The talk was opened with
the announcement that funding had been secured for the next six months and that
they were confident that further funding would be secured after this which
meant the immediate future of the gallery is safe.
Before the talk
commenced I had the chance to view the exhibition and my initial reaction was
that the work is not what I am used to seeing exhibited at 'The Side.' The
gallery features "documentary work in the tradition of the concerned
photographer"1 my initial reaction was that this was
not social documentary in the way I recognise it - although all of the
photographs are black and white - a convention of documentary photography, the
subject matter is closer to wildlife, landscape or even art photography. There
are very few people in the photographs featured and although each image is
captioned with the date taken, they have a timeless quality which makes them
difficult to place. They seem strangely familiar and yet alien - often the
composition seems difficult but on closer inspection you realise there is a
precise order and balance present: "each photograph invites the viewer
into something deeper - a teasing out of the narrative through its smallest
details"2
As we sat down for
the talk I was intrigued to know more about the images and the photographer. I
was immediately impressed by how down to earth and affable Pentti appeared to
be, he clearly loves photography as an art form but was very self deprecating when
referring to his own work, when asked about influences however he lit up
describing the influence Paul Strand had on him as a young man. It became
apparent that the link between Sammallahti's work and the gallery is with one
of the founding members of Amber (the collective that run 'The Side')
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen. Like Pentti she is Finnish and they have also
collaborated on one of her projects in the past.
The first subject
for discussion was what projects Pentti explored. He said he did not shoot
projects as such but brought together bodies of work that seemed similar in the
editing process. The pictures in the exhibition were chosen with Konttinen and
all featured two of his recurring interests and themes - animals or roads. He
said printing was his main interest and the photographs were merely there
because he needed something to print! Asked about whether he cropped his images
he enthusiastically replied 'yes! Always!' which I found a refreshing change to
the precious idea of the photographer composing exactly in the viewfinder. He
said he used medium format and panoramic cameras because this allowed him to
crop significantly while still maintaining quality. I found his description of
his workflow quite interesting - he spends at least 2 hours a day examining his
negatives using a loupe. From this he decides on the crop and how to best print
the image. There was quite an interesting discussion about traditional versus
digital printing techniques. Pentti said he used both (although he only used
photoshop in the same way he uses darkroom techniques - he quipped that one day
he may learn about layers!) digital allowed him to print much larger and at greater
quality than traditional techniques, although he was not sure if the digital
prints became so good that something was lost in them versus wet prints.
The prints exhibited
are from Pentti's travels throughout Europe, Asia and Africa but mainly from
his visits to Russia. He talked passionately about the Russian people and there
hospitality and also how enjoyed the cold (there is certainly a lot of snow in
his work.) He said that for him Newcastle was a little warm at 3 degrees! He
made an interesting point that for his work it was essential that he was an
outsider or stranger to make interesting photographs. Currently I am interested
in the reverse idea that you need to be completely acquainted with your chosen
subject to create engaging work - one of my on going projects is photographing
my local area and revisiting the same places over a period of time. One of the
audience commented on a particular image as being a favourite, Pentti was
gracious but said that conditions were so extraordinary that day that he could
have held the camera above his head and made a brilliant image. Asked about how
he captured another image and the seemingly impeccable timing
He dismissed the
notion of the 'decisive moment' saying he had not even noticed the dog seemingly chasing the bird until he viewed
the negative. I love the balance created by the precise positioning of the
camera at the apex of the triangle created by the road tracks either side of
the 'island' of trees. The picture is elevated however by the chance inclusion
of the dog and bird which through their movements have taken on a kind of
personality: the bird seems to strut across the road with pride and arrogance
while there is a real sense of the speed the dog is moving at to capture the
bird. I am left wondering if the dog will reach his goal - maybe the bird is
too caught up in its own self importance to realise the danger or perhaps it is
toying with the dog and will fly off when it gets close?
I left the
exhibition feeling privileged to have spent some time listening to Pentti and
glad that I had found another inspirational photographer to draw upon. I intend
to revisit the exhibition before it closes to view the images again with the
benefit of having some time to think and digest their meaning.
Other notable images
from the exhibition:
This image of ducks
and swans is featured at the entrance of the gallery and for me provides an
accessible introduction to Pentti's work. There is an unusual order created by
the difference in tone between the ducks and swans and the way they are arranged
in the frame.
Pentti spent some
time talking about this image in reference to his strategies for image making.
When shooting in remote areas he said he carries cans of fish with him which he
will empty into the snow and will act as bait for animals in the area. He used
this technique in preparation for this image as he knew the dog in the
foreground would make his daily journey to the local shop to bring back
supplies for his master - an old blind man who would put a list in the bag
(usually for bread and vodka he said) along with the money for the shopkeeper.
The dog was too focused on its mission however and did not stop but another
animal did take the bait which allowed this image to happen. The juxtaposition
between the animal in the background versus the dog with the bag is amusing and
touching and perhaps is a comment on order versus chaos.
This is witty image
and very strong graphically because of the recurring implied triangles in the
picture (the shape of the central dog and the snow mobile and the arrangement
of the other dogs.) The relationship between the central dog and those around it
is amusing - the dog on the bike sits proud, seemingly pleased with its
positioning and the status this affords it. The surrounding dogs seem less
impressed - the ones on the left vocally so while the dog on the right seems to
leaving the scene in disgust. The lack of a human presence also suggests a
world where dogs have taken over.
The order and
balance in the design of this image coupled with the cats all staring at the
dried fish creates the humour here. You get a real sense of the cats desperate
to eat the fish and yet there patience at waiting to see if something will
happen and they manage to take some fish.
2 Side Gallery exhibition introduction
