My photo exhibition "Pohjolasta - From North" is on display at the Kittilä library throughout December. The exhibition is open to everyone during library hours and completely free.

Welcome <3

Early on Thursday morning, we packed two large and heavy cardboard boxes full of picture frames into the van. A total of 25 white, solid wood frames, each containing one of my photographs, traveled with us in the dark morning for an hour from our home to the Kittilä library. The morning shift librarian opened the doors for us, handed us a ladder and wire, and guided us to an empty white wall. "Here is your exhibition space, Sanna."

For a couple of hours, we arranged the photos on the walls, strung more hooks from wire for the frames, and had just placed the exhibition poster on the front door of the library when it opened to the public at ten o’clock. I left a guestbook open on the table for visitors to sign and leave their thoughts, and then I left my photos on their own for the month, trusting them to make their way.

Before the exhibition, I spent a good amount of time preparing the photos—coming up with names, placing them in frames, and packing them for the show. For the titles, I found inspiration in an old book of poetry by Eino Leino, as well as phrases from the works of A.E. Järvinen and Yrjö Kokko, two of my favorite writers from Lapland. While reading, I’ve been jotting down beautiful sayings and word pairs, never knowing where I might use them. Now was the perfect time to put them to use. For example, Särkyvää valoa (Fragile Light) is one of my favorite books by A.E. Järvinen and is now also the title of one of my photographs.

Thankfully, E was there in the morning to help set up the exhibition, as it ended up taking surprisingly more time than expected. I thought I could easily have it done by myself in an hour, but it took the two of us well over two hours to complete.

But oh, how fun it was! It’s incredibly amazing to see my own photos as tangible objects on the wall and to arrange them in the order I want so they can share their story with others. Until now, all my photos have just been data between my camera and computer, but now they truly exist.

These kinds of tangible tasks are my favorite. Honestly, I don't enjoy sitting at the computer or staring at various screens at all. I actually spend very little time editing photos—it's the actual photographing or filming that I find far more enjoyable than the post-processing on the computer. I hope I can find more ways to bring my creations, which live in the digital world, into what we call the real world.

I wrote next to the photo titles that I would be selling all the photos with their frames at the end of the exhibition in late December. I admit I’ve grown quite attached to them, and sending them off in the mail will surely feel bittersweet. E has already insisted on buying a few for our own walls, so maybe a few will stay with us after all. We’ll see how it all turns out.

If you can’t make it all the way to Kittilä—I know, it’s quite a long trip, especially from the south—you can also find the exhibition photos virtually on my website. You can browse them there and even purchase through the online shop.

If you’d like to order a different photo of mine, in another size, or have any questions, feel free to contact me anytime at heisanna@sannavaara.com.

I hope many of you will be able to visit the exhibition in person. I think I’ll drop by a few more times myself, just to see how my little ones are doing in the big town of Kittilä.

❤︎ Sanna