Birgit Püve (born November 7, 1978) is an Estonian photographer. She lives and works in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

Life and work

Birgit Püve started out as a writing journalist for the

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

n weekly newspaper '' Eesti Ekspress''. She quickly became a successful writer, winning several reputable awards. Yet, her love for

photography Photography is the visual art, 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 i ...

led her to replace words with images. Besides her personal projects, she now works as a freelance photographer and photo editor. Püve concentrates mostly on portrait photography and the presentation of human nature. With her widely acclaimed series ''By The Lake'' she portrays the silent and dignified world of the Russian

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow ...

living in the culturally unique part of

, on the shores of Lake Peipus, the biggest transboundary lake in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, which now separates two different worlds -

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

. ''By The Lake'' consists of poetic

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

s of people and their private environments. She is currently working on her next project ''Estonian Documents''. As a native Estonian she explores Estonian faces with an aim to portray the nation as a whole. Through the portraits of known and unknown Estonians she aims to treasure the psychological state of one Post-Soviet country in the 21st century. Birgit Püve's work has been shown in exhibitions in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Russia, France, UK, United States, Canada, Austria, Germany,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Recognition

Photo District News (PDN) Photo Annual 2011, USA. Winner in the category ''Personal'' with the series ''By The Lake''. Spectrum Emerging Talent 2012 of '' The Sunday Times Magazine'', UK. With the ongoing series ''Estonian Documents''. First Prize in Portrait category of the Estonian Press Photo 2012 contest with the series of staged portraits called ''Estonian Future Stars 2013'' for the special edition of cultural supplement of '' Eesti Ekspress''. First Prize in Portrait category of the Estonian Press Photo 2013 contest with the series of staged portraits of Estonian twins and triplets for the book project ''Double Matters'' (''Elada mitmuses'') by Hea Lugu Publishers. Third Prize at the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2014 organized by The National Portrait Gallery in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Awards

Exposure Awards 2014, Finalist

Memberships

Estonian Union of Photography Artists Estonian Association of Press Photographers

Books

Elada mitmuses / Double Matters, by Birgit Püve, '', Publisher: Hea Lugu,'' 128 pages. In Estonian with English summary. 2013.

Collections

Püve's works are held in the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum collection and private collections in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

, Germany, UK, United States.

Exhibitions

2015 "Double Matters", St. John's Church,

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...

, Estonia
2015 "Estonian Documents", Deutsche Journalisten-Verband Berlin,

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, Germany
2015 "Estonian Documents" Interphoto Festival, European Art Centre,

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

, Poland
2016 "Estonian Documents", "By the Lake", Gallery Sztuka Wyboru,

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

, Poland
2016 "Estonian Documents", 12 Star Gallery, Europe House,

, UK
2017 "Islanders", Kihnu museum,

Kihnu Kihnu is an island in the Baltic Sea. With an area of it is the largest island in the Gulf of Riga and the seventh largest island of Estonia. The length of the island is and width , the highest point is at above sea level. The island belon ...

island, Estonia
2017 "Sanctuary/Varjupaik", Tallinn City Gallery, Tallinn, Estonia
2017-2020 "Get ready! The Face of the University or 100 Teaching Staff Members of the University" travelling exhibition in University of Tartu's academic buildings, Estonia

References

External links

Birgit Püve Photography

Birgit Püve Photography

Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize 2014 - in pictures

National Geographic Your Shot

Written on their faces: the people of modern Estonia – in pictures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puve, Birgit Living people 1978 births Estonian photographers People from Elva, Estonia Estonian women photographers 20th-century Estonian women artists 21st-century Estonian women artists