Shepherd, 2008

Kalle Kataila's Shepherd was featured in reGeneration 2: Tomorrow's Photographers Today, the second book in Aperture's series shining a spotlight on the next generation's rising stars, some of whose work will be available for purchase for the very first time. The sale of these prints will help support these emerging artists—and give collectors an opportunity to acquire their work early in their careers. This photograph depicts a desert-like landscape; where usually we expect wide-open skies, we are presented with a black void. As with other images in Katalia's Landscape and Contemplations series, it also features a strategically 'placed' figure that looks—as we the viewers do—out at the landscape. Surrealistically, this figure seems to be a shepherd who guards plastic chairs. As in the landscapes of German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich, a figure, seen from behind, stands at the centre of the landscape, and seems fascinated by the spectacle he is observing. Kataila's protagonists change, but they all seem to disregard the human being. The characters themselves appear absent from the scene.

Pigment Print
Image Size: 15 x 18 11/16 inches
Paper Size: 16 1/2 x 23 3/8 inches
Edition of 25 + 4 AP
Signed and numbered by the artist

Kalle Kataila (b. 1978, Helsinki, Finland) received an MFA in Photography from Helsinki’s Aalto University School of Art and Design in 2013. He has had solo exhibitions in Italy, Canada, and Finland, and participated in group shows in South Korea, the U.S., France, Russia, and the U.K., among others. His work is held in the collections of Musée de l’Elysée, Switzerland; StatoilHydro Art Collection, Norway; as well as Finland’s Paulo Foundation, OP Bank, Helsinki City Art Museum, and Finnish State art collections.