Ville Lenkkeri (*1972 in Oulu Finland) is one of the graduates of the famous Helsinki School
whose brilliant works have drawn worldwide attention to Finland's contemporary photography
scene. Hatje Cantz published Lenkkeri's debut book Reality in the Making in 2006 and the
reception was enthusiastic: If the strength of Finnish photography is in gathering together
irony skillful craftsmanship humor and reflection on media then it has found one of its
most talented representatives in Ville Lenkkeri wrote PHOTO International. For his new book
Lenkkeri made several visits to two Russian towns on Spitzbergen. To him a now-deserted mining
settlement appeared not as a depressing . . . scar on the Arctic landscape but as a formerly
just and happy commonwealth . . . where competitive hierarchies had been abolished in favor of
equality. The journey became a personal quest for alternative ways of living the place itself
a utopia in many respects not least for having failed to exist (Ville Lenkkeri). Exhibition
schedule: Kulturhuset Stockholm February 14-May 17 2009 · Finsk-norsk kulturinstitutt Oslo
May 28-August 16 2009 · Synart Art Gallery Frankfurt Main September 2009 · And further
venues
