A holiday in Mongolia

Sakari Pälsi: Shamaani Otshir-böö, 1909. Hopeagelatiinivedos vuodelta 1985, vedostaja Jussi Aalto. Suomen valokuvataiteen museon kokoelmat. Alkuperäinen negatiivi kuuluu Museoviraston Kuva-arkiston kokoelmiin.

The linguist G.J. Ramstedt and the archaeologist Sakari Pälsi (1882–1965) made an expedition to Mongolia in 1909. A gifted amateur photographer, Pälsi was there not only as an archaeologist, but also in the capacity of photographer. He recorded the actual subjects of the archaeological research done on the journey, while also photographing the steppe landscapes and local people, and the life of the nation in squares and monasteries. You can read about the meeting with the shaman Otshir-böö in Pälsi’s book Mongolian matkalta (from a journey to Mongolia) 1911.

The original negatives belong to the National Board of Antiquities’ Archives for Prints and Photographs. The prints were made for the 1986 major exhibition Minne? Suomalainen valokuvataide 1842–1986 (Finnish Art Photography 1842–1986).

Shaman equipment, 1909/1985, gelatin silver prints, made by Jussi Aalto.

See more:
Pälsi, Sakari: Mongolian matkalta, 1911. Otava, Helsinki.
Aalto, Jussi: Sakari Pälsi näppäili hyviä kuvia, 1985. Otava, Keuruu.

Tapahtumat

Life as a Street Urchin

Collection pick

Little Iris knew there were other kinds of men in the world than her father, Fritz Englund (1870–1950), an amateur photographer and a well-to-do bourgeois head of the family. She had seen them loitering on the streets, smoking cigarettes and hollering at women passing by.

Images of the Cultural Revolution

Collection pick

This photograph, taken in the workshop of a factory that made statues of Mao, is one of the frames of the film printed on the contact. In 1967, K-G Roos (1937–1976) was among the first western journalists in China after the start of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

Peeping Tom

Collection pick

In June 1970, Apu magazine published an article illustrated by Kalle Kultala (1924–1991). Kultala captured a Peeping Tom a hundred metres away, sneaking around behind the fence at the Seurasaari nudist beach. At the same time, he unashamedly took snapshots of the naked women on the beach.

The Museum's collections

Kokoelmat

The collections of the Finnish Museum of Photography include more than two million photographs. The collections focus on 20th-century Finnish photography, and are made up of both selected works by photographers and images from extensive photographic archives. The museum's collection of objects includes thousands of photography-related artefacts. The museum also has a paper archive and a photographic library.

Life as a Street Urchin

Images of the Cultural Revolution

Peeping Tom

The Museum's collections

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