The Finnish Museum of Photography is the national special museum for photography, its job being to promote and foster Finnish photographic art and culture. The Museum, founded on the initiative of a number of photography organizations, began its work in 1969. The Museum is maintained by the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Photography.
The Museum's main support comes from the Finnish Ministry of Education and from the City of Helsinki, which provides premises in the Cable Factory in Ruoholahti, Helsinki. The Museum's Director is Elina Heikka, and it has a permanent staff of fourteen.

The Museum puts on exhibitions of Finnish and foreign contemporary photography, and presents the diverse history of photography. The exhibition spaces cover a floor area of about 800 m2. Museum education work underpins the exhibitions, producing photography and media-education projects for various audiences.

The Museum's collections include about 3.7 million pictures spanning the various user cultures in photography. The emphasis in collection acquisitions is on Finnish contemporary photographic art. In a national context the Finnish Museum of Photography has considerable specialist expertise in the preservation and conservation of photographs.

The Museum carries out basic research on its collections and produces research publications. It also promotes Finnish photography research through collaborative projects with other research bodies, by maintaining a nationwide network of photographic researchers, and by awarding grants from the Börje and Dagmar Söderholm fund. This research and the nationwide work on photo archives are further assisted by the database of Finnish photographers maintained by the Museum, and by the Museum's other databases and details of Finnish photo archives. The Museum also has a photography library for researchers.

EXHIBITIONS

The museum´s exhibitions show captivating moments from the history of photography, from the 1840´s up to the present. The exhibitions deal with Finnish and international topics. The smaller Project room is intended for presenting new artists and projects, and the Process concentrates on educational exhibitions and activities.

Travelling exhibitions are also produced from the museum´s own collections to be shown both in Finland and abroad.

Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00, Wed 11:00-20:00, Mon closed

MUSEUM SHOP

In the museum shop you can buy the museum´s publications at an affordable price. It has an extensive selection of books on Finnish photography. The Finnish Museum of Photography is a major publisher of photographic literature, together with Musta Taide (Black Art) publishers.

Tue-Sun 11-18, Wed 11-20

ARCHIVES

The archives contain a wide range of documents: newspaper cuttings; and documentation from photographers and photographic organizations. The archives also contain other kinds of documentary material, such as sound recordings, films, printed invitations, and posters. The object collection comprises 3500 items, including cameras and photographic instruments. The archive collections are shown as part of the permanent exhibition, in special exhibitions and on the museum´s website.

CONSERVATION

The conservation unit maintains the museum´s collections and disseminates information about the safe preservation of photographs. In this leaflet, you will find answers to the most frequent questions about taking care of photographs. The website www.fmp.fi has more information about correct treatment and preservation, and about suitable archiving materials.

MUSEUM EDUCATION

The aim of the museum´s education work is to support and promote ways of learning, doing and experiencing with photography. Guided tours, workshops, meetings with artists and lectures attract people of all ages to learn more about the past and present of photography.

Process is the photographic museum´s education room, where workshops alternate with exhibitions. You are welcome to come and practice creating an exhibition for your school or kindergarten. For more information, contact the Educational Curator  Erja Salo on (09) 6866 3620 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

MUSEUM BUILDING

The museum in located in the Cable Factory, which is a cultural space belonging to the City of Helsinki. The museum has a total of 900 m2 of floor area for exhibitions. The entire museum, with its exhibition spaces, offices and archives covers 3000 m2. The museum interiors were designed by the Alli and Valvomo studios in 1999.

PROJECTS

The work of the Finnish Museum of Photography is being developed in cooperation with international and domestic partners.

The goal of the Memory of the Photograph project was to help photographic archives identify their main collections and make cataloguing plans. Archives are taught how to handle and digitize their photographic collections in ways that save precious material from destruction. The international dimension of the project extends to archives in the Nordic countries, the Baltic States and Russia.