Esko Männikkö - Esko Männikkö - 1996
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Esko Männikkö, a first edition hardback photography monograph published in 1996 by Oktagon, presents 136 pages of colour photography in German and English, measuring 29 × 23 cm.
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Description from the seller
Published in 1996 by Oktagon Verlag in Cologne, this early monograph of Finnish photographer Esko Männikkö offers an intimate portrait of life in the remote communities of northern Finland. Produced in conjunction with a series of European exhibitions, the book brings together a remarkable collection of colour photographs that explore solitude, rural identity and the relationship between people and their surroundings.
Männikkö's photographs portray hunters, fishermen, forestry workers and men living on the margins of contemporary society. Often photographed inside modest homes filled with personal belongings, worn furniture and everyday objects, his subjects appear inseparable from the environments they inhabit. Rather than emphasizing hardship or isolation, Männikkö approaches these individuals with familiarity and sensitivity, allowing their personalities and living spaces to reveal complex, deeply human stories.
His distinctive use of saturated colour, natural light and carefully balanced compositions gives the photographs an almost painterly quality. Domestic interiors, animal remains, landscapes and still lifes become equally significant elements of a visual narrative in which documentary observation meets an unusually refined aesthetic sensibility.
Featuring 55 colour plates and essays by Heikki Kastemaa and Rudolf Schmitz, this first edition represents an important early publication in Männikkö's career, preceding his celebrated photobook Naarashauki: The Female Pike. Published nearly three decades ago, it remains a particularly compelling example of Scandinavian documentary photography and an appealing out-of-print photobook for collectors interested in the evolution of contemporary colour photography.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Published in 1996 by Oktagon Verlag in Cologne, this early monograph of Finnish photographer Esko Männikkö offers an intimate portrait of life in the remote communities of northern Finland. Produced in conjunction with a series of European exhibitions, the book brings together a remarkable collection of colour photographs that explore solitude, rural identity and the relationship between people and their surroundings.
Männikkö's photographs portray hunters, fishermen, forestry workers and men living on the margins of contemporary society. Often photographed inside modest homes filled with personal belongings, worn furniture and everyday objects, his subjects appear inseparable from the environments they inhabit. Rather than emphasizing hardship or isolation, Männikkö approaches these individuals with familiarity and sensitivity, allowing their personalities and living spaces to reveal complex, deeply human stories.
His distinctive use of saturated colour, natural light and carefully balanced compositions gives the photographs an almost painterly quality. Domestic interiors, animal remains, landscapes and still lifes become equally significant elements of a visual narrative in which documentary observation meets an unusually refined aesthetic sensibility.
Featuring 55 colour plates and essays by Heikki Kastemaa and Rudolf Schmitz, this first edition represents an important early publication in Männikkö's career, preceding his celebrated photobook Naarashauki: The Female Pike. Published nearly three decades ago, it remains a particularly compelling example of Scandinavian documentary photography and an appealing out-of-print photobook for collectors interested in the evolution of contemporary colour photography.
Seller's Story
Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation.
The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem.
Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections.
The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text.
Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform.
Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.
Details
Number of books
1
Subject
Photography
Book title
Esko Männikkö
Author/ Illustrator
Esko Männikkö
Condition
Very good
Publication year oldest item
1996
Height
29 cm
Edition
1st Edition
Width
23 cm
Language
English, German
Original language
Yes
Publisher
Oktagon
Binding/ Material
Hardback
Number of pages
136
