Born 1945 in Helsinki, lives and works in Helsinki.
Education1974 MFA Photography, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence, RI
The New School for Social Research; The School of Visual Arts
1967 BA English, Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, studied with Dr. Thomas Kendris
Selected Solo Shows2022 Retrospective, Kunstfoyer, München, Germany
2022 Self-Portraits (From Last Three Decades Of Five), Cité de l'Image, Clervaux, Luxembourg
2021 Same But Different, Savignano Immagini Festival, Reggio Emilia, Italy
2021 Two Hundred Seasons, Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia
2020 Two Hundred Seasons, Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden
2020 Arno Rafael Minkkinen – Going the Distance, Persons Projects, Berlin, Germany
2019 Retrospective, Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Petersburg, Russia
2018 Taivanranta–Firmamento, retrospective, Cultural Center Gallery, Lima, Peru
2017 Minkkinen, Centro Niemeyer, Avilés, Spain
2017 Mind Over Matter, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona, FL
2017 Floating in the Air, Willas Contemporary, Oslo, Norway
2016 Photo & Contemporary Gallery, Turin, Italy
2016 Shenzhen Photography Festival, See + Gallery, Shenzhen, China
2015 7 8 9 0 1, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, Il
2014 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Blomqvist Kunsthandel, PUG Gallery, Oslo, Norway
2014 Retrospective, Lumière Brothers Center of Photography, Moscow, Russia
2013 Photo Festival St. Germain des Prés, Galerie Arcturus, Paris, France
2013 A Dance of Light, Dance on Camera Festival, Lincoln Center, New York, NY
2012 Palindromes, Phototheatron/Athens House of Photography, Athens, Greece; New York, NY
2011 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, La Biennale de Lyon, Galerie Domus, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
2011 The Journey of Arno Rafael Minkkinen, InFocus Gallery, Cologne, Germany
2010 Finnish Pavilion, Shanghai World’s Fair, Shanghai, China
2009 L’Empire Nu d’Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Valérie Bach Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2009 Finnish Footprints: 70 / 08, The Finnish Institute, Paris, France
2009 Cavallo Point, Golden Gate National Park at Fort Baker, San Francisco, CA
2008 The Celebrity Solstice Art Collection, Celebrity Solstice Photo Gallery
2008 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Galerie Agathe Gaillard, Paris, France
2007 Malmö Museet, Fotografi i Fokus Festival, Malmö, Sweden
2006 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, 12th Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Lianzhou, China
2005 SAGA: The Journey of Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Thirty-Five Years of Photographs,
2005 DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
2003 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
2002 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
2001 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Retrospective, Église Saint Georges, Musée de Normandie,Caen, France
2000 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Joel Soroka Gallery, Aspen, CO
2000 The Body as an Expression of the Subconscious, Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
1999 Frequent Flyer, Photo & Contemporary, Turin, Italy
1998 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Body & Photography, American Cultural Center, Prague, Czech Republic
1998 Ten Minutes Past Midnight, Gallen Kallela Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Mois de la Photo, Paris, France
1998 High Noon, Barry Friedman Ltd., New York, NY
1998 Body Land, Galerie Clairefontaine, Luxembourg
1996 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Retrospective, Castello Fortezza, Montalcino, Italy
1996 Waterline touring retrospective: Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi, Belgium; Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark; Sundsvall Museet, Sundsvall, Sweden
1995 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, L’Artothèque de Caen and Musée de Normandie, Caen, France
1995 Waterline, Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland
1995 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Braggiotti Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1995 The Big Five, Laterna Magica, Helsinki, Finland
1995 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Houk Friedman Gallery, New York, NY
1994 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Akehurst Gallery, London, England
1994 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Galerie L’Imagerie; Centre Jean Savidan, Lannion, France
1993 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Galerie du Château d’Eau, Toulouse, France
1992 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Prague House of Photography, Prague, Czech Republic
1991 Finnice, Retrospective, Museum of Modern Art, Nice, France
1990 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Peri Center of Photography, Turku, Finland
1989 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Bannister Gallery, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI
1988 15 Years in Front of My Camera, Galerie Viviane Esders, Paris, France
1988 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Oulu Art Museum, Oulu, Finland
1987 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Galerie Vrais Rêves, Lyon, France
1985 Mattomies, Galerie Viviane Esders, Paris, France
1985 PORI PARIS, POLAROID KUVIA, Pori Art Museum, Pori, Finland
1984 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Photographic Museum of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
1983 Father and Son, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
1982 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Yuen Lui Gallery, Seattle, WA
1979 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Canon Photo Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1979 Frostbite, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
1976 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Fotografiska Museet at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
1973 White Underpants, Gallery for Creative Photography, Copenhagen, Denmark
1972 Freemale, Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 See a World in a Grain of Sand, Ivar Stockholm, SE
2022 Nuages - In memoriam Françoise Nuñez (1957–2021), Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
2021 La Suite, Fundación PROA, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2021 The Naked & the Nude: Reflections on Edward Weston, Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University,Tempe, USA
2021 Art of Illusion: Photography and Perceptual Play, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Bloch, L11, Kansas City, USA
2018 Ansel Adams in Our Time, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA
2018 Architecture and the Human Form, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
2017 Bodies in Water, De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, MA
2017 Foto View: Finland, Landskrona Museum of Art, Landskrona, Sweden
2016 Wild Strawberries, Wäinö Aaltosen Museo, Turku, Finland
2016 The Kiss, Lumière Brothers Center of Photography, Moscow, Russia
2015 Barbado Gallery, inaugural group exhibition, Lisbon, Portugal
2015 After the Moment: Reflections on Robert Mapplethorpe, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, OH
2015 Water, Water, Everywhere, Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund, Norway
2014 Festival d’Images, Vevey, Switzerland
2014 Self-portraits, Galerie Les Douches, Paris, France
2013 Paris Photo, Galerie Camera Obscura, Paris, France
2013 The Finnish Frame of Mind (with Niko Luoma), Galerie Valérie Bach, Brussels, Belgium
2013 Views on Landscapes: Scandinavian Photography, Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Colombia
2012 Performing for the Camera: Stéphane Janssen Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
2012 A New Vision, Modernist Photography, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
2011 Paris Photo, Robert Klein Gallery, Photo & Contemporary, Paris, France
2011 Water, Sense and Sensation, Wäinö Aaltosen Museo, Turku, Finland
2010 Salute to the Masters, Dali City International Photography Festival, Dali City, China
2010 Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles, France
2010 Out of the Box, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
2009 Reality Revisited,Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
2008 Tracking Traces, Kiasma Contemporary Museum of Art, Helsinki, Finland
2008 40th Year Anniversary Exhibition, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2007 One Shot Each, Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark
2006 Nordic Light Festival, Kristiansund, Norway
2005 To Look or To See, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2004 Fotosintensi Photography Festival, Chiesa di S. Agostino, Piacenza, Italy
2003 Armory Show, Photography, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York, NY
2003 An American Century of Photography: From the Dry-Plate to the Digital, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
2002 Subjectivity: Photographs of Themselves, Stéphane Janssen Collection, ASU Art Museum. Tempe, AZ
2001 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
2000 Century of the Body, Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
2000 Photography in Boston, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
2000 In the Spirit of the Masters, Kerava Art Museum, Kerava, Finland
2000 An American Century of Photography: Dry-Plate to Digital, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, KS; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA
1999 Self-portraits, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris, France
1998 Ficcions intimes, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1997 The Body in the Lens, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada
1996 Bathers, Washington Center for Photography, Washington, DC
1995 Water, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA
1994 Air Water Earth: Focus on Finnish Art, Turku Art Museum, Turku, Finland
1993 Collection Photographique de la Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Musée de la Photographie, Mougins, France
1992 Finnice, Kerava Art Museum, Kerava, Finland
1991 NEA Regional Grant Awards, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA
1990 Clichés: Le Choix des Sens, French Cultural Center, Paris, France; Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Beaunord, Brussels, Belgium
1988 Splendor & Misery of the Body, Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris, Paris, France
1988 Selections 4, Polaroid Collection, Photokina, Cologne, Germany
1986 Victor Barsokevitch Museum, Kuopio, Finland
1984 Photography as Phantasy, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
1978 Tusen Och En Bild, Fotografiska Museet at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Selected CollectionsBC Partners, London, England
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon, Lyon, France
The Celebrity Art Collection Solstice, Oslo, Norway
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tempe, AZ
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA
The Carl Gustav Ehrnrooth Collection, Helsinki, Finland
The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles, France
Fotografiska Museet at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Gallen-Kallela Museum, Espoo, Finland
High Museum, Atlanta, GA
International Center of Photography, New York, NY
Kerava Art Museum, Kerava, Finland
Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland
Mount Holyoke College Museum of Art, Mount Holyoke, MA
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne, Switzerland
Museet for Fotokunst, Brandts Klædefabrik, Odense, Denmark
Museo Nazionale Alinari Della Fotografia, Florence, Italy
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA
Polaroid International Collection, Cambridge, MA
Rhode Island College, Providence, RI
Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki, Finland
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Photographic Museum of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
Viktor Barsokevitch Center, Kuopio, Finland
WestLicht Schauplatz Museum, Vienna, Austria
Wäinö Aaltosen Museo, Turku, Finland
Selected Publication
2019 Minkkinen, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany.
2011 Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, No. 14 Collection 16 ½, Lyon, France.
2010 Balanced Equation, Lodima Press Portfolio Series. Revere, Pennsylvania.
2008 Homework / Suomen Kuvat, The Finnish Photographs of Arno Rafael Minkkinen, 1973 to 2008, Like Publishing, Helsinki, Finland.
2005 SAGA: The Journey of Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Thirty Years of Photographs,Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.
1999 Body Land, Motta, Milan, 1997; Nathan, Paris, 1988; Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
1998 Ten Minutes Past Midnight, Musta Taide, Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museo, Tarvaspää, Finland.
1994 The Waterline Portfolio, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY.
1981 New American Nudes: Recent Trends & Attitudes, Morgan & Morgan.
1978 Frostbite, Morgan & Morgan, Dobbs Ferry, NY.
Selected Awards and Grants
2019 German Photo Book Prize Winner, Monograph of the Year 2019 | 2020
2017 Suomen Leijonan Pro Finlandia Medal, presented by the President of Finland
2015 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
2013 Lucie Award for Achievement in Fine Art, Lucie Foundation, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY
2011 Nancy Donahue Professor of Art, University of Massachusetts Lowell
2006 Finnish State Art Prize in Photography
2006 Special Jury Prize, Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Lianzhou, China
2006 Finnish Photographic Arts Book Grant: Homework: The Finnish Photographs, 1973 to 2008
2004 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Photography
1994 Grand Prix du Livre, Waterline, 25th Rencontres d’Arles Festival, Arles, France
1992 Order of the Lion First Class Medal (knight), Helsinki, Finland
1991 National Endowment for the Arts Regional Fellowship