Image: Malla Hukkanen: Far Away the Clouds Flee, 1996 / dir. Aki Kaurismäki, Sputnik oy
The Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki is devoting a major exhibition to the work of Malla Hukkanen, whose film stills have helped shape the visual memory of Finnish cinema for more than four decades. Titled 'Film still – Malla Hukkasen valokuvia elokuvista', the show runs at the museum’s Kaapelitehdas venue from 27 March to 20 September 2026 and presents Hukkanen’s photographs not as static by-products of filmmaking, but as a distinct photographic practice with its own language and demands.
According to the museum, film stills are commonly understood as screenshots, yet the images in this exhibition underline a different process. A still photographer enters after a scene has been filmed, re-stages the moment with the actors and crew, and works quickly to capture the atmosphere of a scene—or sometimes an entire film—in a single image. The museum notes that the task is pressured, with the ideal shot needing to be made in just a few minutes, and that the resulting photographs reflect the combined work of set designers, costume designers, make-up artists, actors, directors, cinematographers and the still photographer herself.
Marja-Leena “Malla” Hukkanen, born in 1959, has photographed film stills for over four decades and is among the few Finnish photographers to have made still photography her life’s work. She is especially known for her long collaboration with director Aki Kaurismäki, and the exhibition includes her stills from Kaurismäki films. The museum says Hukkanen has photographed stills for more than 100 Finnish films. Alongside the stills, the show also includes her behind-the-scenes work photographs and images of photographs used as props in films.
The exhibition is built around Hukkanen’s 'Kaihon Kultamaa' collection of images from Aki Kaurismäki’s films, together with still and work photographs selected from across her career. The museum describes the photographs as evidence that still photography is not merely an auxiliary part of cinema, but an independent art form that joins the pause of photography with the movement of film in a single visual language. Hukkanen has also worked as a script supervisor, a role the museum says involved responsibility for the visual continuity of scenes.
'Film still – Malla Hukkasen valokuvia elokuvista' also places Hukkanen’s work in dialogue with the museum’s collection through a selection of film stills by Börje Söderholm from Fennada films of the 1950s and 1960s. The museum says these historical stills extend the exhibition’s view of the genre and its role in cinema culture. Söderholm’s archive is part of the museum’s collection.
The exhibition has been curated by Max Fritze and Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger together with Malla Hukkanen. It is presented on the first floor of the Finnish Museum of Photography at Kaapelitehdas, Kaapeliaukio 3, Helsinki, with opening hours Tuesday to Friday 11 am–7 pm and Saturday to Sunday 11 am–6 pm. Admission is 16/6/0 euros, with free entry for those under 18 and access included with the Museum Card.
