Born 1961 in Kotka, Finland. Lives and works in Helsinki.

Education
1994 MA in photography, University of Art and Design, (Now Aalto University - School of Arts, Design and Architecture), Helsinki
1988 MA in art education, University of Art and Design, Helsinki

Solo exhibitions
2015 Circles, Yumiko Chiba Associates, Tokyo, Japan
2008 Wanderings and Imaginary Meetings (with Riitta Päiväläinen), the Kerava Art Museum, Finland
2008 Sites and Depatures, Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
2007 Wanderings and Imaginary Meetings (with Riitta Päiväläinen), Muzeum Narodowe w Szczecinie/the National Museum in Szczecin, Poland
2005 IN SITU Early Gallery, Osaka Japan
2005 Vestige/Topography of Fear (with Riitta Päiväläinen) Spaziodellavolta,
Studio Archifax, Genoa, Italy
2004 IN SITU Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
2002 Topography of Fear Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne, Germany
2002 Topography of Fear UNN Squires Gallery Newcastle, United Kingdom
2002 Topography of Murder Photographic Centre Peri Turku, Finland
2005 Vestige/Topography of Fear (with Riitta Päiväläinen) gallery Romfeia, International Meetings of Photography, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
2001 Topography of Fear Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
2001 Topography of Murder Nordic Photographic Centre, Oulu, Finland
1996 Kryptomnesia gallery Workshop, Helsinki, Finland
1993 Seen Through Senses the Kluuvi Gallery (Helsinki City Art Museum), Finland
1992 Concert Hall Gallery Kotka, Finland
1992 Point of Pain gallery Hippolyte Helsinki, Finland

Selected group exhibitions
2015 In other worlds. Kunst aus Finnland, Stadtgalerie Bietigheim-Bissing, Germany
2014 In other worlds. Kunst aus Finnland. Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany
2013 Ingredients (curated) Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia
2012 Feel It! – Photographs of Emotion and States of Mind (curated), Oulu Art Museum
2011 Landscape Experienced (curated), Jyväskylä Art Museum
2010 Close to Nature – Zeitgenössische Finnische Kunst (curated), Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg Germany
2010 Images from the North Countries (curated), Espace François-Mitterand,
Guingamp, France
2010 Tales from the Forest (curated, group), Virserums Konsthall, Virserum, Sweden
2010 Pain (curated, group), the Kerava Art Museum, Finland
2009 Great Expectations – Contemporary photography looks at today’s Bitter Years, (curated) Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2009 Artworks from the Collections of the Kuntsi Art Museum and Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art (curated), Kuntsi Art Museum, Finland
2008 The Art of Humanity (curated), XII Mäntta Festival Weeks, Finland
2007 Contemporary Finnish Art from the Wihuri Foundation Collections (curated), Jyväskylä Art Museum, Finland
2006 Finlandia (with Jouko Lehtola, Joakim Eskildsen, curated), Frans Hals Museum/ De Hallen, Haarlem, Netherlands
2006 MENS. The Story of a Wound (curated), the Centre for Religious Art and Culture and Municipal Museum for Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K. in Ghent), Leuven, Belgium
2006 Vad är Fotografi? The Helsinki School (curated), Borås Art Museum, Sweden
2006 The Helsinki School, Finnish Photography from the 21st Century (curated), Hotel de Ville de Bruxelles, Grand-Place, Bruxelles, Belgium
2006 Nordic Cut – The Helsinki School of Photography (curated), Art Pavillion, Zagreb,
Croatia
2005 Fractures of Life (curated) Kiasma, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
2005 Metropolis (curated) Mare Articum at the National Museum, Szczecin, Poland
2005 the Helsinki School  (curated) Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
2005 Personligt, fotografier från the Helsinki School  (curated) Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
2005 The Taik Gallery Sollentuna Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden
2004 30byTaiK (curated) Museum of Finnish Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2004 Gokann The Fourth Triennale of Contemporary Finnish Art (curated) the Kunsthalle of Helsinki (the Helsinki Art Hall), Finland
2004 Conversation with Nature (curated) Aomori Contemporary Art Center, Japan
2004 Views, the Rovaniemi Art Museum, Finland
2004 Images Against War, Photokina, Cologne, Germany
2003 Gokann The Fourth Triennale of Contemporary Finnish Art  (curated) Kyoto Art Center, Seika University Gallery, Voice Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
2003 Blue Horizon (with Pertti Kekarainen, Jan Kaila, curated) Spiral Gallery, Wacoal Art Center, Tokyo, Japan
2003 Exposure 2003 (curated) Hereford Art Gallery, United Kingdom
2003 Images Against War Galerie Lichtblick, Cologne, Germany
2003 Images Against War, L’Usine Galerie, Brussels, Belgium
2002 Korrelaatioita (curated) Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria
2002 Korrelaatioita (curated) FotoForum West, Innsbrück, Austria
1997 The Drum and the Camera (curated), Gallén-Kalela Museum, Helsinki, Finland
1997 Mother’s Heart an installation, the 7th Biennale of Audiovisual Design (curated), Lahti, Finland
1996 Momentum - The 90’s of the Finnish Photography (curated), Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
1995 The Script the Second Biennale of Finnish Photography, (curated), the Kunsthalle of Helsinki (the Helsinki Art Hall), Finland
1994 Male Anxiety (curated), Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Konst, Berlin, Germany
1993 The Night of Photography a curated group exhibition in the Park of Vuorimiehenkatu during the Night of Arts, Helsinki Festival, Finland
1993 Young Photographers a group exhibition in Helsinki City Theatre , Finland
1993 There and Back a group exhibition with five painters, gallery Allinna, Riihimäki, Finland
1992 The Young Roosters (curated), Sveaborg Fortress, Helsinki Photography Festival, Finland
1991 Planket Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
1989 Focus (curated), Museum of Photography, Helsinki (touring exhibition in Latvia, Estonia and Finland)
1989 The Young (curated), The Old Student house of the Helsinki University, Helsinki Photography Festival, Finland

Academic experience
2000- Visiting Lecturer of Photography and workshops at the University of Art And Design, Helsinki (Aalto University, Finland), Helsinki University of Technology (Aalto University, Finland), Lahti Institute of Design (Finland), Turku Academy of Arts (Finland) and Estonian Academy of Arts (Tallinn, Estonia)
1996–2000 Principal Lecturer of Photography at the Lahti Institute of Design, Finland

Selected bibliography, presentations and broadcasts:
2014 Switchboard (portfolio and an interview, Germany)
2011 IkonoMenasa (video: http://ikono.tv)
2010 Close to Nature – Zeitgenössische Finnische Kunst (catalogue, Germany)
2010 Pain, the Kerava Art Museum (catalogue, Finland)
2009 Great Expectations – Contemporary photography looks at today’s Bitter Years,
(catalogue, Luxembourg)
2009 HotShoe 1/2009 (UK, review)
2008 IN SITU (book, Finland)
2008 The Art of Humanity, XII Mäntta Festival Weeks (catalogue, Finland)
2008 Motiv #14 (portfolio, Sweden)
2007 europalia.europalis 27+27+27 (Belgium, movie/installation/interview)
2007 Human Rights Report 3/2007 (portfolio, Finnish League for Human Rights)
2007 Motiv Magazine #11 (portfolio, Sweden)
2007 Crime Scene: Helsinki (catalogue, Finland)
2006 MENS (catalogue, Belgium)
2006 Finlandia (catalogue, Netherlands)
2006 Origins of Violence national broadcasting channel Teema, January
2005 Metropolis (catalogue, Poland)
2005 The Helsinki School - Photography by TaiK (catalogue, Finland)
2004 HotShoe magazine December 2004–January 2005 (UK, interview)
2004 Taide (Art) magazine December 2004 (Finland, review)
2004 What Contemporary Photography Represents Today – an interview with Marjaana Kella, national broadcasting channel Teema, October 29th
2004 ARK magazine 4/2004 (Finland, portfolio)
2004 Helsingin Sanomat Sept. 30th (Finland, review)
2004 Conversation with Nature Aomori Contemporary Art Center (Japan, catalogue)
2003 Exposure (UK, catalogue)
2003 Gokann (Japan – Finland, catalogue)
2003 Blue Horizon (Japan, catalogue)
2003 Musta taide (Art Noir) magazine 1/2003 (Finland)
2003 Jatulintarha CD-ROM (an international joint project, UK/Finland)
2002 Ari Saarto (with Pelle Kronestedt – catalogue, gallery Lichtblick, Cologne, Germany)
2002 European Photography #71 magazine (Germany, portfolio)
2002 Korrelaatioita (Austria, catalogue)
2002 International Meetings of Photography (Bulgaria, catalogue)
2002 The Rovaniemi Art Museum and Wihuri Foundation collections 1997-2002 (Finland, catalogue)
2002 ARK magazine 1/2002 (Finland, portfolio)
2001 Collisions and Dissonances 6. Internationale Fototage Herten 2001 (Germany, catalogue)
2001 Helsingin Sanomat Nov. 15th (Finland, review)
2001 Mi magazine 2/2001 (Finland)
2000 Eidos – Writings About Finnish Photography in the 90´s Institute of Design, Lahti (Finland, editor, essay)
2000 Mi magazine 1/2000 (Finland)
1997 Musta taide (Art Noir) -magazine 2/1997 (Finland)
1996 Musta taide (Art Noir) -magazine 3/1996 (Finland)
1995 Käsikirjoitus - the Script (Helsinki Photography triennale, catalogue)
1993 Valokuva (Photography) -magazine 8/1993 (Finland)
1992 Valokuva (Photography) -magazine 4/1992 (Finland)
1992 Suomen Kuvalehti magazine 24/1992 (Finland)
1992 Stylus magazine 2/92 (Finland)
1989 Bildtidningen magazine 5/1989 (Sweden)

Grants and awards
2015 FRAME
2015 Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2014 Oskar Öflund Foundation
2014-2018 five-year Artist Grant, the Arts Promotion Centre Finland
2013 the Arts Council of Uusimaa
2013 Art Grant, City of Helsinki
2012 one-year Artist Grant, Arts Council of Finland
2011 Public Display Grant to Visual Artists
2011 Visek
2010 Finnish Cultural Foundation
2008 National Council for Photographic Art, Finland (quality support for publications)
2008 National Council for Photographic Art, Finland
2007 National Council for Photographic Art, Finland
2007 Visek
2006 Avek
2006 Academy of Fine Arts, Finland
2006-2010 five-year Artist Grant, Arts Council of Finland
2005 Kordelin Foundation
2005 Oskar Öflund Foundation
2003-2005 three-year Artist Grant, Arts Council of Finland
2004 Arts Council of Finland
2004 Niilo Helander Foundation
2004 Frame Fund
2003 Oskar Öflund Foundation
2003 Frame Fund
2002 Frame Fund
2002 full one-year working grant, Finnish Cultural Foundation
2002 Arts Council of Finland
2001 Arts Council of Finland
2001 the Frame Fund
2001 Public Display Grant to Visual Artists
2001 National Council for Photographic Art, Finland
2001 Finnish Cultural Foundation
2001 Finnish Cultural Foundation
2000 British Council
2000 honorable mention, "Best graphic Design of the Year”, Grafia Foundation
(project with students, Lahti Institute of Design)
1999 honorable mention, "Best graphic Design of the Year”, Grafia Foundation
(project with students, Lahti Institute of Design)
1999 Alfred Kordelin Foundation
1999 Finnfoto Foundation
1999 Icelandic-Finnish Cultural Foundation
1998 Public Display Grant to Visual Artists
1998 Arts Council of Finland
1995 Nordic Minister Council
1995 Finnish-Danish Cultural Foundation
1995 Uusimaa Provincial Art Committee
1994 Arts Council of Finland
1994 Arts Council of Finland
1992 University of Art and Design Helsinki
1992 Oskar Öflund Foundation
1991 Finnfoto Foundation
1990 certificate of honor from the Committee of Finnish Book Art
1990 British Council

Memberships
2012-2013 Vice chairman of the Artists’ Association of Finland
2011-2013 Chairman of the board of the Union of Artist Photographers, Finland
2007-2013 Board member of the Union of Artist Photographers, Finland
Board member of the Museum of Photography, Helsinki

Artist Residencies
2004 Aomori, ACAC Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Japan
2002 Kökar, Finland
2001 Newcastle, England (Jatulintarha-project)

Works in collections
Kiasma the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
The State of Finland
The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki
The Wihuri Foundation (Rovaniemi Art Museum)
The town of Kotka
Private collections in Finland, Japan and USA

Download Saarto's CV