Sanna Kannisto: Observing Eye is a photo book based on Finnish photographer Sanna Kannisto’s bird-themed pictures. Shot in a field studio built by the artist, the photographs delve into the theme of gaze: how the artist observes the birds, how the birds look back, and how the viewer finally examines this interaction. When detached from their surroundings, the birds’ expressions and the nuances of the feathers are shown with extreme precision and beauty. Kannisto’s bird photography plays with the traditions of scientific illustration, staged photographs as well as still lifes, and at the same time, they are closely linked to ecological questions, such as the decline in the number of species.
Sanna Kannisto (b. 1974) studied photography at the Turku Academy of Arts and communication at the Helsinki University of Art and Design. She was awarded the Finnish State Prize for Photographic Art in 2015 and the William Thuring Prize in 2017.