Esko Mannikko - The Female Pike

Self-published, 2000. First edition. Hardback. Cited in Martin Parr and Gerry Badger's The Photobook: A History, Volume II. Includes signed postcard: "Dear Friend, Please enjoy 'The Female Pike' with single malt whisky!"

Condition: Fine.

ISBN: 952-91-2745-6

"Revolving around the experience of fishing for pike in midwinter, Female Pike is a native son's study of rural Finnish people and also their culture. Documentary in nature, the work has a sympathetic quality that comes only from an intimacy with the language and life these people live. Mannikko's color photography is shimmering at times but then gorgeously muted at others, carrying the quiet paradox of despair and acceptance that pervades all rural towns, whether in North America or, in this case, Finland." Esko Männikkö made this book himself, storing two thousand copies in his kitchen, sure he'd spend the rest of his life with them. However, Naarashauki was too good and all copies were sold.