Marjaana Kella (born 1961) is a Finnish photographer.

Early life and education

Kella was born in

Orimattila Orimattila () is a town in Päijänne Tavastia regions of Finland, region, Finland. The southern part of Lahti is connected to the village of Orimattila, which is located in the region of Pennala. There are also several municipalities in the area, ...

, Finland. She was a student at the Free Art School from 1985 until 1986, and moved on to study

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

at the University of Art and Design Helsinki from 1987 to 1993. In 2014 she received a Doctorate in photography from Alto University, her dissertation was entitled 'Translations - Landscape, the face and the presentation of the photograph.'

Life and work

Kella has been teaching since the 1990s. She works on the MA program and is a Senior Lecturer in contemporary art and photography. In 2014 she was appointed vice-dean of the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki. Her photographic work reflects on the genre of

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

, challenging its traditional composition to question identity, reality, and authenticity. Talking about her work, Marjaana Kella has stated "My photographs are kind of studies of perception and experience, or of the interface between people’s external and internal spaces." The series ''Reversed'' (1996–1997) presents unusual portraits of individuals turning away from the camera, represented only by the back of their heads. The portraits, almost non-gestural, therefore ignore the subject's facial features to create pictorial, and textured compositions renewing the genre's aesthetic. For ''Hypnosis'' (1997–2001) the artist scrutinises the suspended moment of hypnosis during which her subjects' effort at self-representation are disrupted.

Solo exhibitions

*''Marjaana Kella: Valokuvia,'' 1998, Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki *''Marjaana Kella,'' 2001, Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki *''People in hypnosis Marjaana Kella,'' 2002, 21 March – 21 April 2002, Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam *Solo Exhibition, 21 March – 1 May 2002, Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam *Solo Exhibition Marjaana Kella 26 May – 1 September 2002, Bildmuseet,

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*''Reversed Portraits,'' Poller Contemporary, 6 September – 31 October 2002,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

*Solo Exhibition, 5 September – 21 December 2003, Museum of Photography,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

*''Portraits,'' 2004, Galerie Fotohof,

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*''Portraits,'' 13 May – 27 June 2004, Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum,

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

*''Blush,'' 15 April – 21 May 2006, Van Zoetendaal,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Publications

*''Marjaana Kella.'' Van Zoetendaal, 2002. With text by Pia Sivenius and Jan Kaila. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kella, Marjaana Living people Finnish photographers Finnish women photographers 1961 births