24.1.–3.5.2026
Hannu Hautala – A Boy Who Loved Birds
Hannu Hautala (1941–2023), the legend of the Finnish nature photography, was Finland’s first professional nature photographer and a key figure in the field for decades. Opening in January 2026 at the Salo Art Museum, the retrospective exhibition will be the most extensive museum exhibition of Hannu Hautala’s work ever. The exhibition is curated by museum director emerita Elina Heikka. More than 100 photographs produced using various techniques celebrate Finnish nature and fill all the exhibition spaces of the Salo Art Museum.
Hautala photographed his feathered friends as a hobby until he received his first grants in 1970, when the installer became a professional and passionate nature photographer. The first book, Erämetsän elämää (Life in the Backwoods), was published in black and white in 1968, after which dozens of books were published. His extensive body of work and captivating slide shows, which Hautala said he had presented more than 700 times across Finland, made him a well-known figure to the general public. His first widely known photograph was the unique image of mating eagles, chosen as Press Photo of the Year in 1973.
The photographer was fascinated by the four seasons with their changing light: from the enchanted snow-crowned forests of Riisitunturi to the misty nightless nights of summer. Hautala witnessed the destruction of old-growth forests in Koillismaa by the forest industry’s large-scale logging, devoting his life’s work to the vanishing backwoods. He built up the in-depth familiarity with nature essential to a nature photographer and knew the characteristic features of various species. As a photographer, he was infinitely patient, spending long periods in wildlife hides. Among the photographer’s favourite birds were the increasingly rare swan and eagle, his sociable companion the Siberian jay, as well as the cranes descending on marshes in springtime. The exhibition at the Salo Art Museum revolves around the seasons, covering the various decades of the photographer’s work.
The exhibition is produced in collaboration with the Hannu Hautala Foundation.
Photo: Hannu Hautala, © Hannu Hautala Foundation.