Don’t get me wrong. I like my new hometown a lot. I live by the sea for the first time in my life, people are friendly and there’s a line of  old wooden pubs just under my window. But somehow Oulu is strange. For me it’s clearly in the north because I’ve only lived in Jyväskylä, Tampere and Lusaka before moving here. Others say it’s actually not very north, because there are still another 700 kilometers to the northern border of Finland. Oulu really tries to convince me with its northern heritage by bringing reindeers and stuff under my window almost every day. But that’s not all – there’s also a strong wibe of technopolis in the air. Oulu grows fast and seems to invest in digital info screens and grey concrete. Maybe that’s what I would tell others about my new home. For me it’s a northern town with nice inhabitants but somewhat depressing architecture.

Posted by Tatu
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What do we know Esko Valtaoja of?

Stars and his beard.. So, how very clever of me.

The stars are more visible with a larger size photo, but you’ll get the idea. This assignment was for Lapin Kansa’s, Pohjolan Sanoma’s and Kainuun Sanoma’s sunday pages. I’m really thankful for Valtaoja for playing along and allowing me decorate his beard with these shiny objects (with the condition that I’d also get every last of them away), for my back-up plan was far worse than this one. Furthermore, Valtaoja was extremely interesting, intelligent and down to earth man and a real pleasure to work with.

And hey, finally something that fits our blog’s somewhat hazy theme (and finally those stars from my previous post make any sense)..

Posted by Konsta
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Should have posted these a long time ago, but what can you do if you’re born lazy. Anyway, few shots from Kalevan Kisat in Kajaani last summer. If I remember correctly, these ones never made anywhere – except the one with javelin thrower Teemu Wirkkala.

In general shooting sports is strange business. Many times it seems to be bit tedious and repetitive – there are the obvious shots that you should be able to take. On the other hand sport games are full of drama and variety of emotions, and it is all about the decisive moment. You either got it or you don’t. And there is also a huge challenge to be able to capture something interesting or fresh.

Posted by Jarkko
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Last night, as I prepared myself for the two quite exciting assignments of the next day (today, that is now), the hubris took the best of me and my weary body. I wound up working these photos: my one-night-study on stardom or star-struckness or starships or something. I really should have went to bed.

Also I wanted to try (and over-do) something Jarkko taught me the other day about his photoshopping. Works great, man, thanks! Messing with these photos really made me feel good for some reason.

That’s it, over and out.

Pictures are unrelated.

There’s no story that I know of.

Posted by Konsta
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In most cases things get interesting when something unexpected happens while on assigment. And sometimes things get bizarre. So was the case with contemporary performance artist Roi Vaara back in 2006. On paper it was a typical interview with some portraits. The interview went nicely and Roi seemed like a very laid-back person. Back in the days I was still studying fine arts and presumably driven by this I started to wonder out loud that “maybe we should try something different with the photos”. Roi picked up the idea and said “ok, let’s do that. I’m going to ran into that fence, there is a really nice plane on the other side”. Well, what can you say to that? So I said “ummm-umm…yeah. Sure”. And so he did. There was a loud metallic “boing” combined with sound of air being forced out of the lungs. I wish I had the dedication.

Posted by Jarkko
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