Marja Pirilä – The Wonder of Light
In her lecture, photographic artist Marja Pirilä invites us into a world where light and photography intertwine the everyday with the magical.
For Pirilä, light is the foundation of photography—the starting point and bedrock upon which she has built a rich body of work spanning over 30 years. Combining her background in both art and biology, she shares how wonder, experimentation, and a meditative focus led her to explore pinhole photography and the camera obscura technique.
In the lecture, Pirilä offers insight into her creative process with the camera obscura, where the interplay of light and space creates a new kind of reality—like visions from the edges of the mind. Presenting works in which people’s inner worlds merge with their living environments, she reflects on how photography can offer fresh perspectives on the reality around us.
Marja Pirilä (b. 1957) graduated in 1986 with degrees in photography from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (now Aalto University) and in biology from the University of Helsinki, majoring in animal ecology (M.Sc.). At the heart of her extensive body of work are series created using the camera obscura technique. For her pioneering and creative contributions to this rare method, she has received numerous awards, including the Alfred Kordelin Prize (2020) and the Finnish State Prize for Photographic Art (2000).
Since 1987, her works have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Finland, Europe, Asia, as well as North and South America. In 2024, her retrospective exhibition Valon tähden / Because of Light was held at the Helsinki Art Hall, invited by the Finnish Art Society. That same year, she was invited to exhibit at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in Remembrance Beyond Images.
Marja Pirilä has published seven photographic books, including two retrospectives: Because of Light (2024) and Carried by Light (2014). Her works are included in collections such as the Finnish Museum of Photography, the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, the Finnish State Art Collection, HUS (Helsinki University Hospital), the Serlachius Museums, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation.
Explore Marja Pirilä’s website
