Esko Männikkö

ESKO MÄNNIKKÖ (Pudasjärvi, 1959).
"Per" 2001.
C-print, issue 9/20
Signed and justified on the back.
With label on the back of the Estrany-de la Mota gallery.
Presents faults in the frame.
Measurements: 66 x 49 cm; 71 x 60 cm (frame).

Männikkö is a self-taught photographer of Finnish origin who began as an amateur photographer. He had his first solo exhibition in 1982 in Oulu, Finland. Männikkö photographed villages and life in Northern Finland and Kainuu in black and white. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Männikkö photographed the Kola Peninsula with photographer Pekka Turunen. The photos taken in the area revealed to the public for the first time the extent of mining activity in the region. The photos were published not only in the Finnish press, but also in the PEMOHT exhibition, organized with Pekka Turunen, which took place in 1993 at the Murmansk Art Exhibition. Männikko's career took off in 1995, when he was named Young Artist of the Year and exhibited at the Tampere Art Museum. That same year, Männikkö had solo exhibitions at the Morris Healey Gallery in New York and the Nordenhake Gallery in Stockholm. In 1996, Männikko received the MTV Cultural Award and the Young Art Finland Prize. In 2006, he received the Ordóñez-Falco International Photography Prize in Spain. Männikkö won the 2008 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize for his retrospective exhibition Coctails 1990 - 2007, which was presented at Millesgården, Stockholm, in autumn 2007. Männikkö was nominated in autumn 2007, the other nominees being photographers John Davies, Jacob Holdt and Fazal Sheikh. The aim of the award is to recognize the most outstanding international photographers and artists of our time and to raise the profile of photography in the visual arts. Valued at £30,000 (€39,000), the award aims to raise the profile of photography and the art world.