Sandra Kantanen studied photography in Helsinki and painting in Beijing. Her award-winning photographs, recently published in the monograph More Landscapes (Hatje Cantz, 2019), have been digitally altered to create dreamlike scenes. True to her studies, the images oscillate “between painting and photography: the areas resembling brushstrokes simulate the presence of a painter, while the marks that look like inkblots are reminiscent of the mechanical work of a printer,” writes Hatje Cantz in the press release.

Katenen made the photographs in More Landscapes in a wooded area in the south of Finland, where landmines were laid during WWII. Recalling the history of this place, Kantanen tosses small, colorful smoke bombs into the scenes before photographing them. The images are then processed with a digital brush, creating various layers that the viewer can only decipher upon closer inspection. On one hand, the pictures recall the past, but they also raise questions about the nature of photography and the construction of landscape.

More Landscapes
By Sandra Kantanen
Hatje Cantz, 2019

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