These photos of Sauli Niinistö were never used so I might as well post them here. I feel that taking photos of seasoned top politicians is kind of tricky since they know the game. They know what kind of image they want to project and they know how to deliver it. So it was with Sauli. We did the interview at his home (which actually was a surprise that he invited us there) but he was very precise where the photos should be taken. The interview and the shooting was to be done outside, there was no chance that we were going to go in. But when we started there was a moment of chaos and I did miss one potentially interesting photo. This happened: Sauli and his wife Jenni have a French bulldog named Lennu. Kind of comical looking fella, I think. At the very beginning of interview Lennu shoots out from nowhere and rushes the presidential candidate. He his trying to grab the dog while this drooling rocket of energy feverishly climbs on top of Niinistö who at the same moment is shouting “no photos!” This didn’t really matter because I had tele lens and I was standing maybe two meters from him so I missed the moment. Why I hated that I wasn’t able get the photo? Because something unexpected and uncontrolled happened.
Anyway, I don’t know if it transcends to the viewer as a great image but I was pleased with the shot where he is standing his arm stretched out. This is because it was the only moment when he seemed to be somewhat absent and not conscious about being photographed.

Posted by Jarkko
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