Arno Rafael Minkkinen

Colossal

Minkkinen

Arno Rafael Minkkinen is a tall, slender, flexible man. We know this because he has been pursuing a constant vision for decades: to make portraits of his naked body as it blends or coexists within nature. Using a nine second delay on his camera, Minkkinen contorts his body into position, awaiting the familiar click of the shutter. “As you leave the viewfinder, trust the camera to finish the job. I do not use an assistant to look through the camera; otherwise she or he also becomes the photographer.” A true purist, Minkkinen eschews double exposures or image manipulations through Photoshop. Instead, he tests the limits of his own physicality, assuming positions that seem improbable. It is this test of the human body that pushes him to  “…know what you will not do. For me this means embracing reality as a collaborator in the invention of the image, not overlaying multiple images to create such impressions.”

Whether working in water, snow, the woods, or a majestic mountain setting, Minkkinen strives to create an equal balance between nature and nudity. In Nauvo, Finland, 1973, his arched torso resembles a stone slab, protruding from the water; In Fosters Pond II, 1989, his arms and legs touch the water, creating a perfect reflection that is both awe inspiring and mystifying; In Maroon Bells Sunrise, Aspen, Colorado, 2012, his outstretched arms and back form a perfect arc, mimicking the curves of the surrounding mountains; In Mouth of a River, Fosters Pond, 2014, he bows down to the water, arms outstretched, in a pose of reverence and acceptance. These are humorous, spiritual and transformative photographs that celebrate the human form and the earth where we reside. As the artist states, “Embrace mystery. Only the camera knows what happened. You will not find out until you see the negative and make the positive. In good pictures, the mystery will still be a mystery.”

Arno Rafael Minkkinen was born in Helsinki in 1945, and moved to America when he was six. His work has been published, exhibited, and collected worldwide and is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), Musée de l'Élysée (Lausanne), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris) and Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, among many others. The artist is currently working on his eighth book, a chronology of five decades to be released in 2017.

All images are available as 20 x 24" and 40 x 50" pigments prints made in editions of 25 and 10 respectively. Pieces range in price from $5000 to $40,000, depending on size and availability. Some photographs are available 58 x 70".


Please call: (312) 266-2350 for prices of specific pieces.
Prices are print only unless otherwise indicated.

Arno Rafael Minkkinen
10.10.10, Fosters Pond, 2010
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Asikkala, Finland, 1992
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Beach Pond, Connecticut, 1974
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Continental Divide at Independence Pass, Colorado, 2013
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Fosters Pond, 2000
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Fosters Pond II, 1989
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
From the Shelton Hotel Looking East, 2005
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Halfway Up Mt. Mitchell, Burnsville, North Carolina, 2013
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Hands and Feet, White Sands, NM, 2000
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Hite Utah, 1997
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Hope, Maine, 2015
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Ismo’s Stick, Fosters Pond, 1993
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Kallavesi, Kuopio, 1991
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Kivisaari, Hirvensalmi, Finland, 2007
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Kuusamo, Finland, 1976
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Le Bouquet d’Arbres, Malmö, Sweden, 2007
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Maroon Bells Sunrise, Aspen, CO, 2012
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Millerton, New York, 1971
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Mouth of the River, Fosters Pond, 2014
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Nauvo, Finland, 1973
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Oulujärvi Afternoon, Paltaniemi, Finland, 2009
Arno Rafael Minkkinen
Väisälänsaari, Finland, 1998