Emma Sarpaniemi

Emma Sarpaniemi explores womanhood and definitions of femininity through playful and performative photographs. In her self-portraits, Sarpaniemi uses herself as a vessel for the viewer’s imagination. The characters she depicts in her work are fictional but contain parts of the artist’s own identity and combine reality with the imagined. The shutter release cable, often clearly visible in her photographs, serves as a symbol of the subject being in control of their own image.

For Sarpaniemi, photography is a medium of joy and playfulness, empowering to dream of new possibilities of femininity, gender roles and the gaze. Collaboration and collectivity also hold important roles in her work. She dives into the relationship she has with the models and collaborators she works with to explore intimacy and companionship. By dressing up, movement, and the use of toys, props and domestic spaces and landscapes, Sarpaniemi creates tender depictions of the feminine.

Emma Sarpaniemi (b. 1993, Helsinki, Finland) graduated with a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Art the Hague (KABK). Her works have been extensively exhibited in galleries, museums and festivals throughout Europe. Her notable recent presentations include solo shows at Jarmuschek+Partner in Berlin and NEVVEN in Gothenburg in 2025, solo show Honey Crunch at Finnish Museum of Photography K1 in 2024 and exhibiting at the photographic festival Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2023. Her works are included in notable public art collections such as those of Museum Folkwang, City of Gothenburg, HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Turku Art Museum, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Heino Art Foundation, Miettinen Collection and the Finnish State Art Funds, as well as numerous private collections in Finland, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.