Juha Suonpää is an art, environmental and nature photography docent, a doctor of arts, and a master of education. Suonpää serves as a senior lecturer at the Center for Applied Research at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK).
He has held international exhibitions, published documentary films, numerous academic monographs, and articles, and has researched topics related to photography, science visualization, and the construction of place identity. Suonpää has been awarded the Pirkanmaa Regional Fund Science Award in 2000, the Finnfoto Award in 2011, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland’s Cultural Achievement Award in 2013, and the Majaoja Award in 2017 for his work in the fields of art and science.
His documentary film “Lynx Man” premiered last fall, charming audiences and sparking discussions both domestically and at international film festivals. Discussions have focused on issues such as the legality of the management hunting of lynx. Due to appeals made by local organisations and associations of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, the legality of granted hunting permits was scrutinized more closely, and lynxes were not hunted in the winter of 2024 as before. “Lynx Man” has been awarded at numerous film festivals in Europe and Asia.
The main exhibition of the Kuusamo Nature Photo festival in 2024 is Juha Suonpää’s “Nordic Lynx.”
