Johannes Pääsuke
| Johannes Pääsuke | |
|---|---|
Johannes Pääsuke
|
|
| Born |
30 March 1892 Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire |
| Died | 8 January 1918 (aged 25) Orsha, Mogilev |
| Occupation |
Photographer Film director Cinematographer |
Johannes Pääsuke (30 March [O.S. 18 March] 1892 in Tartu – 8 January 1918 [O.S. 27 December 1917] in Orsha) was an Estonian photographer and filmmaker.
Very little is known of the youth of Johannes Pääsuke, the fourth of six children to a comfortably-off couple living in Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire. Johannes's siblings were well educated, but all that is known about Johannes's own education is that he studied photography. On his own account, he started photography at fifteen, that is, in 1907, and it is likely that he contacted the Estonian National Museum (ERM) in 1912, having already taken photographs in various places in Estonia.
In 1913, Pääsuke began a project for the ERM to document Estonia's lands, trades and architecture through photography and the collection of artifacts.
A major part of this project was a tour Pääsuke made with an assistant, H. Volter, to the Estonian coast, from 10 June to 29 July 1913. The two traveled most of the way by foot, carrying the normal luggage and also cameras, a tripod, plates and so forth. Three hundred and seventeen photographs remain from this trip, many of Saaremaa and Muhu. Pääsuke's work was highly appreciated by ERM, which opened an exhibition of the photographs on 2 August 1913.
Pääsuke is known to have taken more than 1,300 photographs on glass plates in this national ethnographic project, which also included two larger series, one made in 1908–13 across much of the south of the nation, and the other made in 1914 in Tartu.
Pääsuke was also the first Estonian to make a film. He made about 40 films in his career with 10 films still in existence − five newsreels, four documentaries, and one work of fiction, the political satire Karujaht Pärnumaal (Bear Hunt in the Pärnu County).
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