Ismo Hölttö
"GYPSY GIRL WITH HORSES".
Sign. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle Fine Art Photo Rag 308gsm paper, 2/25. Image size 34x32, sheet size 59,4x42 cm.
Provenance
Private collection.
Exhibitions
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland 2003; Institut Finlandais, Paris, France, 2003; Communication Development Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2004; Galleri Image, Århus, Denmark, 2004: Galleria Nykyaika, Tampere, Finland, 2006; Retrospective, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland, 2008; Retrospective, Vaasan City Art Gallery, Vaasa, Finland, 2011. "Une vision finlandaise", l’Espace François-Mitterrand, Guingamp, France, 2010
Literature
"Ihminen pääosassa" (People in the Lead Role), Ismo Hölttö, Author's edition, Helsingfors, 1989, s. 211; "Pieniä ihmisiä", portfolio, Ismo Hölttö, Tuomo-Juhani Vuorenmaa, Erweko Painotuote Oy, Helsinki, Finland, 2002, sheet 4
More information
Photographed 1966, Pudasjärvi, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland.
Collections: The Victor Barsokevitsch Photographic Centre, Kuopio, Finland; The Finnish State Collections, Helsinki, Finland; Private Collection.
Designer
Ismo Hölttö (b. 1940) is considered one of the greatest Finnish photographers of all time. Hölttö shot the main body of his artistic work during ten years between 1961 and 1970 while working as a goldsmith. The combination of his natural talent, social skills and the special time in history when he photographed his portraits resulted in photography that is also exceptional from an international point of view.
In 1970 Hölttö received a government grant for artistic work, quit his job as a goldsmith and founded his own studio. Hölttö continued to work in commercial photography until the year 2000 when he went into retirement.
Today Hölttö focuses his creative energy on croquis drawing that he started with already in 1964 when he went in to study drawing at Ateneum in his home town Helsinki. A familiar theme still runs in his art: the drawing are powerful, skillfully executed portraits of Finnish people.