Bio

Markku Lahdesmaki was born in Finland. He was eight years of age when his uncle gave him a simple camera with black-and-white film. His first exercise with the camera was taking snapshots of his sister and other family members. His second camera was a Hasselblad at the age of 16. His father asked him what he wanted as a birthday present, a Hasselblad camera or a motorbike. He thought that by making money with his camera he could buy a motorbike later. Music and creating images have competed in his life as equal interest. Photography gained the upper hand as he discovered that music inspired him more to create images rather than vice versa. But the interaction between these two has always been there and is still the driving force. While shooting in studio he lets carefully chosen music fill the room. He moved from taking snapshots of the family and shooting objects in a museum to having a small studio in his then hometown, Tampere to shoot portraits, graduation and wedding pictures. Then a local advertising agency discovered him... especially one art director, Anne. And that's how he met his wife. Markku left with his wife Anne to study and work abroad. While working as an assistant in London he established his own studio there and received his first acknowledgement: an honorary mention in the Warsaw Poster Biennale. Since then Markku has won numerous awards with his photography. He has won gold, two silvers and numerous Merits from the prestigious Association of Photographers' Awards, London. He has been awarded at Clio, Epica, Cannes Lions, New York Festival, CA, APA, PX3, Graphis etc. The Grafia Platinum Award was given to him for his influence in Finnish Advertising. Markku tries to create unique images that will tell a vivid story, entertain the viewer with a bit of peculiar humor and create a touching surrealistic little world. Most of his ideas are based on values he wants to share; joy of life, peace of mind, sense of humor and appreciation for our existence, basic good things that too often are taken for granted. Markku is devoted to his profession. He appreciates working at a leisure pace, maintaining his calm in all situations. He searches for visual power with his mind set on his goal, because he knows that the finished work is all that counts. For the past years Markku has lived in Los Angeles working with his wife for both American and European clients such as GE, AT&T, Toyota, Honda, Nike, Adidas, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, Pioneer, Sprint and Gillette. They have two boys. Tomi, who is a graphic designer and Julian, who is a sound designer/songwriter.