Sanna Kannisto

Resting Site

Kannisto often works closely together with biologists reflecting the interface between art and science. She does not only study characteristics of different species but also the codes of scientific visualisation. Her own position as an operator, experiencer and a researcher is also questioned. The field studio she has developed functions as a laboratory but also as a stage for photographic processes. 

In the past years Kannisto has focused on photographing birds. She has worked in various bird observatories in different locations such as Hanko, Finland; the island of Ponza, Italy and at Baikal, Russia. In her studio photographs, a person is viewed by a bird that has been separated from nature for a brief moment and brought as part of a study and culture. 

“Often when photographing I get this feeling of being amongst something very special and almost magical. Usually the view of the researcher is presented from a one-way perspective so that humans are the ones watching the animals. But it goes both ways. In the process of photographing the bird is also observing me and its view is an essential part of the photographs.” 

Kannisto’s works have an undertone of the strong need for personal expressive narration. The concern of the state of nature and the decrease of bird and insect species is an important subject for the artist. Through the visually beautiful images, Kannisto seeks for an emotional reaction in the viewers that can also have an effect in attitudes.

The Resting Site exhibition features Sanna Kannisto's photographic works from 2014-2023, as well as three videos and a documentary film about her work.