Saana Hellsten, the creative force behind sustainable branding agency Studio Hellsten, has officially announced the launch of her dedicated professional photography practice.
The launch follows a monumental milestone for the Finnish visual artist: being selected as one of almost 4,000 entries to be exhibited in the prestigious Winston Taylor Photo Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery. The exhibition officially opens to the public on Thursday 5th November 2026, where her work will be on display alongside the rest of this year’s collection.
For Saana, photography has been a lifelong obsession, from a childhood fascinated by her father’s black-and-white film photography to university days spent in darkrooms and her professional roots working as a fashion art director for Stockmann - the iconic department store known as the "Harrods of Helsinki”.
The catalyst for this new business chapter is a single, striking and completely unstaged portrait taken thousands of miles away in Kenya, which encapsulates her approach to documentary storytelling.
The story behind the portrait
The journey behind the shortlisted photograph began as a family trip to Kenya to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday. Her mother, an educational architect whose company designs city schools, wanted to visit a local classroom in the lakeside town of Naivasha.
"The classroom was hectic and full of energy," Saana recalls. "The children were putting on singing performances, and I was running around the room trying to capture the joy and chaos.”
But amidst the movement, her eye was drawn to the very back corner of the room. Sitting entirely alone was a three-year-old boy named John.
"He just completely struck me. Despite his young age, he had this incredible, deep stillness and depth, which comes across in his portrait. It was a privilege to be allowed access to take photos in the school, and meet a young person with such remarkable presence.”
It was only after capturing the shot that she learned John’s backstory. Orphaned at a tender age, John and his siblings had been taken in by a local foster family. As John’s foster father, the only carer in the family, works long hours at one of Naivasha's massive commercial rose farms, the very farms that supply grocery store flower aisles across Finland and Europe, the school’s headmaster allowed three-year-old John to sit in the back of the classroom, despite being too young to attend.
"With documentary photography, there are always so many layers of a storyline embedded within a single frame," she reflects. "I chose it because of his magnetic presence. But the context adds a profound weight to what you are looking at.”
Capturing such vulnerability requires a rare level of trust, a boundary Saana navigates by choosing a discreet approach.
Saana has always been naturally drawn to high-energy environments, finding that chaotic or fast-moving spaces often yield the most profound human stories. From documenting the underground electronic music scene and festival dancefloors of Europe to trekking through the Himalayas up to 5,000 metres at the Mount Makalu basecamp, her philosophy relies on capturing the moments within the chaos, while being entirely unobtrusive.
"When you shoot people, huge professional cameras with giant lenses can feel incredibly intimidating," she explains. "I deliberately use a small, discreet, black Ricoh GR IV camera that I bought about six years ago. It fits in my hand and allows me to blend into daily life, capturing my shots exactly as they happen without altering the energy of the room."
The upcoming exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery marks the official arrival of her photography practice to the public sphere.
Through this incredible opportunity, I knew it was time to launch my photography studio," she said. "Photography is where I feel most connected to the world. I'm extremely excited for what the future holds in bringing that specific visual eye to new editorial, commercial, and artistic collaborations.”
