Lot 51: MARTTI JÄMSÄ (b.1959 Finnish)

MARTTI JÄMSÄ (b.1959 Finnish)
Untitled from 'Summertime', 1996
gelatin silver print, printed 2008
signed and dated by artist, signed by printer, all in ink, certificate of authenticity label with typed title, date and edition '5/5' on backing board
47½ x 38in. (121 x 97cm.)

Jämsä, Kesä -- Summertime, Musta Taide, 2003, p.47 (fig.1); Gether & Helveg (eds.), Nordic Moods -- Landscape Photography of Our Time, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, 2008, p.8, pl.23 (fig.A).

At their best, and with time, landscape photographs become a story, a narrative, a myth, a symbol.

MARTTI JÄMSÄ, 2008

DISTINCTIVELY NORDIC
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
This work is number 5 from the sold-out edition of 5 + 2 AP.

In the epilogue of his 2003 book Summertime, Jämsä writes: 'The scene of the events is our family's summer house, where I have photographed my own family's summers for nine years...My own technique of photography is close to the style of the snapshot photographer. I use a 4x5 inch bellows camera and a tripod. I aim at the subject. I measure the exposure. I asked the subjects to be still. I focus on the screen, adjust the exposure and aperture. I put the film cassette in place and expose the image. Slow and time-consuming. The photographs are arrested and the mood is easily solemn.' (p.94)

Jämsä's work has been exhibited internationally in dozens of solo and group shows, including, most recently, Nordic Moods -- Landscape Photography of Our Time at ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Denmark. His photographs are held in a number of private and institutional collections, including The Finnish Museum of Photography and the Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA. He lives and works in Helsinki.