Heikki Leis

Estonian artist and photographer Heikki Leis’s solo exhibition “Storm Before the Silence” explores the primal connection between humans and water, and how our bodies, movement, and habitual ways of seeing shift when submerged. In the photographic series “Streaming Lines” and “Rippled Surfaces”, bodies twirl, spin, flex, and intertwine in water, while the ripples and flickering of its surface distort faces and familiar forms. Water blurs boundaries and momentarily shakes the body free of physical and social constraints, creating space for lightness, movement, and freedom.

The exhibition brings together two photographic series: portraits from “Rippled Surfaces” and people photographed inside an aquarium in “Streaming Lines”. In both, water is more than a backdrop or decorative element – it becomes an active co-author of the works, shaping bodies, faces, and their movement. Leis presents 23 photographs and one video work, representing some of his most recent artistic output, created over the past few years.

The exhibition and the book

Alongside the exhibition, a photobook bearing the same title and based on the same project has been published. Rather than simply documenting the exhibition, the book stands as an artwork in its own right. Its carefully curated sequence of images creates a quiet yet tension-filled visual narrative, with each page adding a new layer of meaning.

Both the exhibition and the book are accompanied by texts written by author and essayist Jan Kaus. His writing opens up the conceptual dimensions of Leis’s visual world, offering readers and exhibition visitors a key to understanding the works while leaving room for personal interpretation.

The exhibition is curated by Stella Mõttus and produced by Kulla Laas, Exhibitions Coordinator at Fotografiska Tallinn. The exhibition's curated soundscape was created by Ekke Västrik.

The book was designed by Kaire van der Toorn-Guthan and is available at the Fotografiska museum shop and online.

Water

“Water is one of the most basic forms of freedom (or at least a sense of freedom) at humans’ disposal.

Bodies whirl in Heikki Leis’s water and the faces that waver from the ripples and flickering of its surface conjure the restless contours of a freedom greater than a human being. That restlessness can distort the images we collectively regard as reality, can shake bodies free of physical and social tension, can liberate them from any fixed placement, can cause them to react to life’s stormy force which cannot be quelled by the silence of a single individual death. Water seemingly holds a record of the freedom of constant movement, the universe’s oscillatory state, and the dance of elements, in the secrets of which we can always partake; which we can turn to face; into which we can cast our bodies.

Truth is not etched in stone but rather poured into water.”

— Jan Kaus
(Translated by Adam Cullen)

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Heikki Leis (b. July 12, 1973) is an Estonian photographer and artist. His photographic work combines focused form with wide-ranging content. On the one hand, Leisi favours analogue photography and shoots on film whenever possible; on the other, he enjoys seeking out unusual modes of expression, dissecting a wide range of themes, and creating experimental compositions. Over an artistic career spanning more than 20 years, his work has ranged from costumed staged scenes to skewed documentary photography, stills from imaginary films, and more.

Two projects that stand out among Leisi’s varied body of work are his book Afterlife (2017), the photographs in which explore the life forms of mould, and the 2024 photography and drawing exhibition “Life Before Us”, which addressed environmental crisis and the prospects of future generations. Leis’s drawings are characterised by intricacy and extensive detail, encompassing both portraits of well-known figures and stylised records of everyday life – photography plays a part in this latticework, too, as his drawings stem from the images captured in his photographs.

Leis has also been featured in two major exhibitions at Fotografiska Tallinn: the 2024 summer exhibition “In Bloom” and the 2026 summer exhibition “Photography in Power: Making Worlds Visible”.

Media highlights

ET:

„Fotokunstnik Heikki Leis pistab su akvaariumisse nagu kuldkala“ – Madis Jürgen, Postimees, 12.06.2026

„Fotografiska toob vaatajani kaks eriilmelist näitust inimese kehast ja identiteedist“ – Ave Lutter, ETV „Aktuaalne Kaamera“ / ERR Kultuur, 13.10.2026

Kultuuriuudised – Tõnu Karjatse, Vikerraadio / ERR, 13.10.2026

„INTERVJUU ⟩ Leis ja Kaus: tõde pole raiutud kivisse, vaid veetud veele“ – Andrei Liimets, Postimees, 27.10.26

RU:

Фотохудожник Хейкки Лейс поместит вас в аквариум, как золотую рыбку – Madis Jürgen, Postimees, 13.06.2026

В Fotografiska открываются две новые выставки, посвященные телу – Julia Leva, ETV+ Актуальная камера / ERR RUS, 08.10.2026