It was in 1995 that the Finnish photographer Tiina Itkonen set out to explore Greenland and particularly the northernmost region of this territory. She returns there regularly, to the point that this region has become familiar to her and that she now has material for several publications and exhibitions. Very early on, she was captivated by the Inuit community, one of the rare populations to live in the cold this far north. The atmospheric conditions are severe, not to say hostile, requiring method and time to take the shots. The photographer combines an artistic approach, both free and measured, with documentary concerns. Her work focuses partly on the activities specific to the inhabitants of the region such as hunting, and more generally their way of life. But it also favors her interest in the particular nature of the landscapes of this region as well as in the development of housing and urban environment. However, behind the beauty of the sites, enhanced by the light and color that Tiina Itkonen knows how to capture so well, lies a fragility: we can sense the climate changes at work today. Inviting us to such contemplation implicitly amounts to inviting us to reflect on the preservation of an inestimable natural heritage. Thus, through this work a message with multiple dimensions emerges: landscapes and portraits alternate, mixing the imposing the architecture of icebergs with the modest habitats in the middle of the ice. The exhibition at the Musée des Pêcheries is enriched with a tribute to the ethnologist Jean Malaurie, famous for his work on Greenland from the beginning of the 1950s, and who prefaced Tiina Itkonen’s first book, “Inughuit”, published in 2004.
Gabriel Bauret, Lumières Nordiques
Tiina Itkonen : Le Groenland
until January 8, 2024
Les Pêcheries, musée de Fécamp
3 Quai Capitaine Jean Recher
76400 Fécamp, France
www.musee-fecamp.fr
