Marjaana Kella (born 1961 in Orimattila, Finland) is a Finnish photographer .
Kella was a student at the Free Art School from 1985 until 1986, and moved on to study photography at the University of Art and Design Helsinki from 1987 to 1993. In 2014 she received a Doctorate in photography from Alto University, her dissertation was entitled 'Translations - Landscape, the face and the presentation of the photograph.
Life and Work
Kella has been teaching since the 1990s. She works on the MA program and is a Senior Lecturer in contemporary art and photography. In 2014 she was appointed vice-dean of the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki.
Her photographic work reflects on the genre of portraiture, challenging its traditional composition to question identity, reality, and authenticity. Talking about her work, Marjaana Kella has stated "My photographs are kind of studies of perception and experience, or of the interface between people’s external and internal spaces."
The series Reversed (1996–1997) presents unusual portraits of individuals turning away from the camera, represented only by the back of their heads. The portraits, almost non-gestural, therefore ignore the subject's facial features to create pictorial, and textured compositions renewing the genre's aesthetic.
For Hypnosis(1997–2001) the artist scrutinises the suspended moment of hypnosis during which her subjects' effort at self-representation are disrupted.
2006 Blush - 15 Apr – 21 May 2006 - Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam2004 Portraits - 13 May – 27 Jun 2004 - Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz2004 Portraits - Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg2003 Solo Exhibition - 5 Sep – 21 Dec 2003 - Museum of Photography, Helsinki2002 Reversed Portraits - Poller Contemporary - 6 Sep – 31 Oct 2002 - Frankfurt2002 Solo Exhibition Marjaana Kella 26 May – 1 Sep 2002 - Bildmuseet, Umeå2002 Solo Exhibition, 21 Mar – 1 May 2002, Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam2002 People in hypnosis Marjaana Kella, 21 Mar – 21 Apr 2002, Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam2001 Marjaana Kella - Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki1998 Marjaana Kella: Valokuvia - Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki2016 FACE TO FACE - Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki2014 From recto to verso - Galerie van Gelder, Amsterdam2012 Paintings - Face to Face - Works from the Collection of the Kuntsi Foundation and the Swanljung Collection - Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa2011 Alice in Wonderland - An international exhibition of contemporary photographic art - Logomo, Turku2009 I Love Malmö - Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn2009 Paintings - Bleeding Heart - A selection of contemporary art from the collection of Lars Swanljung and from Kuntsi Museu - Joensuun Taidemuseo, Joensuu art museum, Joensuu2009 Booth 67f - Van Zoetendaal, Amsterdam2008 Tuhlaajapojan paluu - Finnish and Nordic Contemporary Art from the Lars Swanljung Collection - Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art, Vaasa2008 Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography - Tate Modern, London2008 MOON AND HALF DOME - Works from the Hasselblad Foundation collection - Hasselblad Center, Goterborg2007 Objeto de réplica - ARTIUM - Basque Museum Center of Contemporary Art, Vitoria-Gasteiz2007 Der Kontrakt des Fotografen - Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen2007 Here Then - Tampere Art Museum, Tampere2006 Presence - Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku2006 PRESENCE perspectives on Finnish photography, Wäinö Aaltonen Museum, Turku2005 Der Kontrakt des Fotografen - AdK - Akademie der Künste, Berlin2005 WSPOLCZESNA FOTOGRAFIA FINSKA - Centrum Kultury Zamek, Poznan2005 To look or to see - in search of meanings in photography - Cable Factory, Helsinki2004 Fantastiline realism - Sihtasutus Tallinna Kunstihoone Fond, Tallinn2003 Ordnung & Chaos - Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur2002 Minä sinä me - Centre photographique d'Ile-de-France, Pontault Combault2002 New Pictures - Brotherus, Kella, Kolehmainen, Lajunen, Parantainen - Tennis Palace, Helsinki2002 Northern Spell - University of Toronto, Toronto, ON2002 Photography and Video - Sara Hildén Art Museum, Tampere2002 Attachment+ - Kunsthalle Lophem, Loppem-Zedelgem1999 Anna Gaskell, Joachim Schmid, Marjaana Kella - Hasselblad Center, Gothembourg 2002 Marjaana Kella with text by Pia Sivenius and Jan Kaila, published by Van Zoetendaal Publishers, ISBN 9789075574227.