Ismo Hölttö

Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki 2003; Institut Finlandais, Paris, France 2003; Rouen City Hall, Rouen, France 2004; Communication Development Museum, Kaunas, Lithuania 2004; Galleri Image, Århus, Denmark 2005; Galleria Nykyaika, Tampere 2006; The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, 2008; “Une vision finlandaise”, l’Espace François-Mitterrand, Guingamp, France, 2010; Vaasa City Art Gallery 2011; Ateneum Art Museum, Helsinki 2015; Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa 2015-2016; Helsinki City Museum 2020-2021.

"Ihminen pääosassa" (People in the Lead Role), Ismo Hölttö, Helsinki, 1989, p. 179; "Kohtaamisia 1960-luvun Helsingissä" (Encounters in 1960s Helsinki), Ismo Hölttö, Helsinki, 2021, p. 27.

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.