Esko Männikkö

The Finnish photographer Esko Männikkö (b. 1959) takes us on journey deep into the backwoods and abandoned villages of Finland’s forgotten outposts. Männikkö records his observations as a neutral witness, without judging what he sees. His compositions are so carefully structured as to recall the still life genre, albeit that he usually works at the mercy of the elements of nature. Time seems to have frozen in Männikkö´s photographs, yet his trees, deserted houses and lonesome bachelors posing in their wilderness cabins convey a sense of ephemerality in the fleeting moment captured on film.

Männikkö is a self-taught artist who was chosen Finland’s Young Artist of the Year in 1995. He has won numerous awards both in Finland and abroad, including the Ordonez-Falcon International Photography Award in 2007 and the Deutsche Börse photography award in 2008. His work is found in multiple international collections such as the MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Fondation Cartier in France, Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the Helsinki’s Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art.