Helmut Newton, David LaChapelle, and the emerging future of photography – May brings two major group exhibitions to Fotografiska Tallinn

The summer season at Fotografiska Tallinn begins this week with the opening of two new exhibitions. The major show Photography in Power brings together 127 photographers whose work has shaped the way we see and understand the world – among them Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Avedon, and others. At the same time, Fotografiska turns its gaze toward the future of photography with the group exhibition Emerging Artists 2026: The Baltics & Finland, presenting a new generation of image-makers from the region.

Both exhibitions approach photography as a way of experiencing the world and creating meaning – moving from large visual narratives to intimate personal perspectives, and revealing the richness and diversity of the medium.

This summer marks the seventh year of Fotografiska Tallinn. The season’s major exhibition, Photography in Power: Making Worlds Visible, highlights artists who have been part of Fotografiska’s international and local programme over the years, while also exploring the many layers of photography and its role in interpreting the world.

The exhibition moves between inner and outer worlds, addressing social tensions, identity and belonging, as well as the paradoxes of beauty and its representation. At the intersection of documentary and staged approaches, the personal and the political intertwine, alongside vulnerability and resistance. Photography is not merely a technique here, but a way of directing attention and revealing what might otherwise remain unseen.

Altogether, 127 artists take part in the exhibition, their works and approaches generating new connections and visual narratives. These unfold into thematic threads that come together as a unified whole. Across this broad spectrum, photography reveals its true power – the ability to carry an entire world within a single frame.

The exhibition brings several major names in photography to Tallinn for the first time. Alongside Newton, Mapplethorpe and Avedon, visitors will encounter works by Paolo Roversi, Refik Anadol, David LaChapelle, Lars Tunbjörk, Herb Ritts, and others whose work has shaped the field. The exhibition also features audience favourites such as Alison Jackson, Peter Lindbergh, Pentti Sammallahti, Ellen von Unwerth, Anders Petersen, and Tom of Finland.

At the same time, the focus turns to the future of photography. Alongside the major exhibition, Fotografiska Tallinn launches the first edition of its Emerging Artists platform, bringing together rising photographic talents from the Baltics and Finland – a new generation of bold and distinctive voices pointing toward the medium’s possible futures.

“With the launch of a regional platform and an annual exhibition for emerging artists, we are creating space for fresh voices – supporting artists at the beginning of their creative journeys, whose perspectives reflect some of the most pressing questions of our time,” says Margit Aasmäe, co-founder and CEO of Fotografiska Tallinn.

Through an international open call, artists from all four countries of the region were selected for an exhibition titled Emerging Artists 2026: The Baltics & Finland. The participating artists include Anna-Liisa Kree and Andra Rahe from Estonia; Karl Ketamo and Shia Rówan Conlon from Finland; Pavelas Šalaikiskis and Ieva Baltaduonytė from Lithuania; and Filips Smits, Annemarija Gulbe, Krišjānis Elviks, Anna Ansone, and Anna Marija Puķe from Latvia.

The selected artists engage with photography in diverse ways – staging carefully constructed scenes, observing themselves and their surroundings with honesty, playfulness and humour, or shaping contemporary moods and uncovering hidden social dynamics through series-based work. The exhibition offers an overview of contemporary photographic approaches while opening up personal, deeply felt experiences – many of which carry visual cues familiar to this region.

“It is rare to encounter something like an encyclopedia of photography all at once – you come to browse stories and discover worlds, without the pressure to decide what or who you are supposed to like,” Aasmäe adds, describing Fotografiska’s summer exhibition programme.

This week, visitors can take part in the opening tours of Photography in Power. Friday and Saturday also bring the opening of Emerging Artists 2026 and an artist talk.

On May 12, a thought-provoking conversation between Alison Jackson and journalist Neeme Raud will explore fake news and the relationship between truth and manipulation.

On May 27, James Nachtwey shares an unfiltered perspective on conflict photography drawn from his own experience, including his work covering the war in Ukraine. The evening continues with a charity event dedicated to Ukrainian culture and people.

Both exhibitions will be on view throughout the summer – Photography in Power from May 6 until September 13 and Emerging Artists 2026 from May 9 until November 1. Visitors can also explore the exhibition Places Called Home by Latvian artist Inta Ruka, which carries the life and spirit of past times in a gentle, luminous tone.