Aino Väänänen

Aino Väänänen is a photographer with a focus on long-term documentary work. Her work seeks a point of contact with people and places at the edges of the mainstream, exploring themes of injustice, misrepresentation, empathy and rebellion. Her projects range from environmental and social change in the Scandinavian Arctic (Sacrificed Lands and Vanishing Point) to the opioid crisis in Romania (Dandelions) since 2018. Her aim is to capture both the vulnerability and dignity of her subjects. Aino holds an MA from the University of Helsinki. She was the 2022 Visual Artist of the Year at the Northern Photographic Centre and the 2025 Visiting Artist of the Finnish Cultural Institute in Germany. She is the recipient of a four-year working grant from the Kone Foundation supporting a multidisciplinary project with social psychology researchers at the University of Helsinki. She edits the independent photography zine We Shall See and is based in Berlin.