Back to ice and shades of blue. I know this is not very photojournalistic, but somehow I’ve been very interested in shapes, landscapes and patterns lately. I’ll get back to people someday.
Tatu
I was on an assignment today at Hämeenkyrö, some 40 kilometers off Tampere. After the job I was driving back home, as suddenly this vast and empty field with untouched snow just opened up in the forrest besides the snow. I kept driving, kilometer, another, third maybe. Then suddenly I just had to push the brakes and drive back to photograph that minimalistic scenery.
Konsta
Mysterious lady playing with plates. Kind of stealing from Francesca Woodman. This image just sat into my lap while goofing around. It was taken with ancient Canon Powershot because I forgot my own camera at home while visiting Helsinki. As you can see, I’m going for the more minimalistic color scale because I’ve noticed that using less color takes less bytes. So that means we can have cheaper home site for Partakuva and spend the rest of our cash flow on other luxuries in life.
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.
I’ve never really tried to shoot landscapes but in Sinai, Egypt, it seems to be impossible not to. The scenery is just too amazing, and compared to many other amazing places on earth it’s also unbelievable tranquil. Some of these are shot in sunlight, some in moonlight. All of them are from around Mt. Sinai where, according to the stories, Moses received the ten commandments. The first image is from the top of Mt. Sinai and shot during sunrise.
Phew (for fatigue, not disgust)! That was definitely a challenge. Now it’s time for something totally different. We decided to calm down for a while, drink something warm and look at the old pictures. This is the first part of these “let’s look at the family album and tell stories” posts. So let’s go: In a way a photograph quides us to believe that it is objective and shows reality “as it is”, because the objects and persons appearing in the picture were in front of the camera at the time of pressing the shutter. What it doesn’t show (at least without shouting it out loud) is everything that’s hidden outside the frame, in the shadows and outside the focus area. We don’t view the world in black and white or see it as two-dimensional, flat thing where focusing to interesting objects is not possible. These are all choices made by the photographer and many of them affect the “reality” much more than the usual tools of Photoshop. We are so used to the idea that a photograph is a realistic tool that it’s easy to forget how many myths, ideas, intentional messages and hidden agendas can be included in a single frame. And there’s more. The meanings behind the messages are not constructed only by the photographer, but also by the audience looking at the picture. Before reading further, look at the photo above and think about it for a while. Okay, now you can go on.
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This is a photograph of an old man. It, or actually he, has a great story, but let’s talk about the meanings first. The light coming in from a nearby window paints the picture with a calm atmosphere that goes well with the calm look at the man’s face. What you don’t see so clearly is that he’s missing his left eye. He’s also missing his both legs, and the white object in the front of him is a handle of a wheelchair. It’s not in focus just like the eye and the legs are not either. Why these choices? Well, the photo was taken in eastern Estonia, in a complex that’s run by a charity organization. It houses people like Pjotr Ivanovich Savos here, who can’t take care of themselves anymore. Mr. Savos was a Soviet citizen and worked in Estonia for the most of his life, but after the Soviet Union collapsed (and Estonia gained its independence), he was left without a nationality. Yes, as he can’t prove he’s been living in Estonia for years, he can’t get any state support. The story he told me and journalist Tuomo Björksten was almost unbelievable. He told us he had lived in the same room for six years, never leaving it, and that the people working in the place got angry when his friend tried to smuggle some spirits for him through the window. He had that old calendar page hanging on the wall and a small, black and white photo of a beautiful young woman working in the field attached to the door of his closet. -”Is that your wife?” we asked in russian with the help of a translator. -”No no”, he said smiling. -”The photo probably belonged to the previous resident, but I decided to leave it there because she’s so beautiful!”. After some short questions he started telling us about cosmic beings who would come and take him away very soon. After we had chatted for a while (which was not easy as neither of us, Tuomo or me, spoke any russian) I asked him if I could take a photo. He calmly nodded, took a better position and raised his chin, looking very confident and beautiful. I just couldn’t take a photo where all his physical flaws would have probably been in the center of the viewers’ attention. No, the story in the newspaper and the gaze in his eye were enough or even more than a deliberately gritty picture. Okay, I understand the story is more powerful when he tells it, but I still stop every time I scroll through the pictures and his face pops up. For me, this frame has become the single most important photo I’ve ever taken. It would take a lot better photographer than I am now to produce images that would move this one away from my portfolio. Like it or not.
Pistänpä välillä suomeksi. Pyynnöstä voin kyllä kirjoittaa englanniksi saman (meaning I’m writing in Finnish now, but I can translate the whole text to english if requested).
Lupasin tuossa aiemmin laittaa toisen osan tästä kulkukoirasetistä jossa seurasin suomalaisen eläinlääkärin Ilona Otterin ja hänen intialaisten kollegoidensa työskentelyä Nilgirisin alueella, Tamil Nadussa, Intiassa. Järjestö on nimeltään IPAN ja se tekee lahjoitusten turvin työtä tuotantoeläinten ja sitä kautta köyhien intialaisten hyvinvoinnin parantamiseksi, rokottaa ja sterilisoi kulkukoiria sekä pyrkii villieläinten ja ihmisyhteisöjen rinnakkaiselon kehittämiseen kestävään suuntaan. Loistoporukkaa ja kovia tekemään töitä.
Miksi tuollainen otsikko? Edellisessä osassa luki että “sacred buffalos” mutta nyt se ei enää kelvannutkaan. Ensin kuitenkin hieman taustaa:
Jep, kuvissa esiintyvä nautaeläin on todella Nilgirisin vuoristoalueilla elävän, varsin perinteistä elämäntapaa noudattavan Toda-yhteisön pyhä puhveli. Todille puhvelien pyhä sukulinja on kulttuurisesti todella tärkeä, ja siihen kuuluva eläimen sairastuminen kova isku koko yhteisölle. Ilman puhveleita ei ole temppeliä, ja ilman temppeliä ei ole kylää. Oli siis selvää että Ilona ja miehensä Nigel sekä apumies Sam olivat tärkeissä hommissa kun teepeltoon kuolleen puhvelin kuolinsyy piti saada selville ennen toisen (ja viimeisen) pyhän eläimen mahdollista sairastumista. Näytin kuvia Perpignanin kuvajournalismifestivaaleilla muiden kuvieni joukossa useille kuvatoimistoille, ja Corbisin edustajan palautteeseen sisältyi jotain joka todella pysäytti. Oli mukava kuulla positiivista palautetta itse kuvista, mutta tarinankerronnan osalta tajusin olevani aivan kakara ja että tarvitsisin paljon treeniä ihan perusasioissa. Corbisin edustaja neuvoi tiivistämään tarinan pariin lauseeseen ja etsimään sieltä muutamat avainsanat joista pitää olla kuvat olemassa. Tässä yksi tuollainen avainsana on tietenkin “pyhä puhveli”, mutta onkos siitä kuvaa? Koko reppari ei ole tuossa yllä, muutama kuva vain, mutta siitä huolimatta jouduin myöntämään että puhvelin pyhyys ei kyllä näy kuvissa mitenkään. Todat eivät halua koskea eläimeen koska sen henki saattaisi kostaa heille, mutta ymmärtääkö katsoja sen? Epäilen, että ihmisten sijoittuminen kuvissa aukeni tällä tavalla vasta kun luit tuon äskeisen virkkeen. Tietenkin, hitto tietenkin olisi pitänyt pyytää selvemmin päästä katsomaan itse temppeliä vaikka se ei ollutkaan tarinan aihe. Yksinkin kuva puhvelin ja Toda-heimon ikivanhan uskonnon välisestä suhteesta olisi loksauttanut monta palikkaa kohdalleen ja tuonut muihinkin kuviin lisää tehoa.
Tästä kuvajournalismissa on mun mielestäni kyse. Tarinoista. Toda-heimo, IPAN, kulttuurin erityispiirteet (voitte lukea siitä kun juttu julkaistaan), kuolinsyy ja sen suhde Intian nykytodellisuuteen ovat kaikki ainakin mun mielestäni kiinnostavia asioita, mutta tässä tapauksessa en kyllä suoriutunut kuvakerronnallisesti hirveän hyvin. Luotin aivan liikaa siihen että juttu julkaistaan tekstin kanssa, ja pääsen siinä selittämään kuvien väliin ja niiden ympärille jäävät tyhjät aukot. Ja tästä sain kyllä kuulla kuvatoimiston pöydässä istuessa :-) Vaikka printtimediassa tarinat kerrotaankin useimmiten tekstin, kuvan, taiton ja joskus grafiikan yhteisin keinoin, pitäisi muistaa pyrkiä siihen että kuvat yksinäänkin riittäisivät. Siksi pelkkä puhveli ei riitä, varsinkaan, jos sitä kuitenkin sanoo pyhäksi puhveliksi.
It’s been while. I’ve been busy with both my studies and assignments. Yes, I’ve been photographing, but have not posted anything here since.. can’t remember when. Why? Because I didn’t have anything to show, really. Someone suggested we should make this blog more than “an extension to our portfolio websites”. Well, if that means I should post every portrait I shoot for the magazines or all the stuff I see around me when I walk to the university in the morning, thanks for the idea, but I’ll pass. I don’t really think anyone would be very interested to see everything I shoot. There would be two or three posts a day, and most of them without any real story behind them. It’s true that we could add a lot of things to this blog, and we will, but I didn’t join parta&linssit to create a new facebook or a portal for everything concerning photojournalism. There are already some great sites for that. For me, this is a place where I can show you what I find interesting in the world, and what I think could interest you, too. This is one of those things.
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This is the first part of the story I shot in India. IPAN (India Project for Animals and Nature) is a non-profit animal welfare organization working to improve the livelihood of the people in Nilgiris, India, through the well-being of their domestic animals. IPAN also sterilizes stray dogs to control the population and gives them rabies vaccinations. Rabies is a lethal disease, but vaccinated dogs are not dangerous to people. Killing the stray dogs is not a solution, as rats and wild animals (like monkeys) very quickly take their place and bring other diseases to towns and villages. The three-legged dogs in the pictures were either hit by a car or attacked by some wild animal, like panther. The organization also helps wild animals of the mountain area and tries to find solutions for peaceful co-existence of animals and people. It is run by Nigel, an Indian environmental activist and Ilona, a Finnish veterinarian plus many local volunteers. IPAN is funded by donations. I was lucky enough to get a chance to follow Nigel’s and Ilona’s work (and the daily life of their family) for some days, and here’s the first set of photos. I’ll post some more later.
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If you want to know more about IPAN, their work and how to get involved, visit their website at http://www.indiapan.org/
Four images, all taken from a window of a passenger airplane traveling between Amsterdam and Helsinki as one tired photographer meets some Dutch beaches and Danish clouds. Converted to monochrome, added a lot of contrast and some sharpening. Shot with 16-35mm wide angle zoom at 35mm, some airplane coffee with aperture values around f11 and ISO 400.
Visa pour l’Image is an international photojournalism festival held annually in Perpignan, France. All the biggest photo agencies and hundreds of photographers gather to a small mediterranean town and there are tens of exhibitions, portfolio reviews, screenings and stuff. I was lucky to be chosen to a group of Finnish press photographers and I have to say the festival is very inspiring. When I saw how amazing projects my colleagues from around the globe had made, I got some very mixed feelings. It’s great to be a part of this world of creativity, but on the other hand it’s scary how talented people there are =) I really have to push harder and get better every day because they are. These three shots were taken in a train from Barcelona, Spain, to Perpignan. Jarkko and Maija are Finnish photographers and my friends. Oh, yeah, you already knew Jarkko.
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EDIT: After returning home it’s time for some thoughts on the photos. First of all, it’s nice to have photogenic friends on your left side and old, catholic churches on your right. Then it’s all about the light. Maybe you already noticed it, but I very rarely use flash. It’s sometimes challenging to find a good light when on a daily news assignment, but I don’t think it’s too hard when you have time to look, maybe walk a little and then look again. Here I wasn’t able to walk that much, but instead the perfect light just hit the train window. It illuminated Jarkko’s face and created that sharp reflection and then gave that beautiful backlight to for me to take Maija’s photo as well. That’s why I love available light, reflections, backlight, the sun and the shade. There’s just so much to observe and when you see moments like this, it just clicks. Waiting for the right light also teaches me patience and that is always a good thing to learn. Camera data: 50mm f1.4 wide open (i.e. at its maximum aperture value 1.4), aperture priority, Canon raw files converted to jpeg and contrast added in post-processing.
This was interesting. Miika Viljakainen from Aamulehti asked me if I was interested in spending a day at the army boot camp. Of course I was. The story was about growing to be a soldier and it was published in Aamulehti’s sunday supplement and I was lucky to get quite a lot of space for the photos as well. As always, Miika’s story was amazing :) If you know Finnish, be sure to read it. After 10 hours I had too many photos to choose from and it took ages to come up with some sort of selection for the paper. Here’s some more in a form of a slideshow. Sounds by Miika.
A tropic thunder over Tampere. Or actually a bit to the west. Unfortunately I was at work when the storm was at its strongest. This one was the best I captured near my apartment at the Näsijärvi lake shore. The buildings are the ones at Naistenlahti, and you can see the power plant as well. It’s been crazy in Finland lately. The weather is like in India or Mexico: hot (more than +30 celsius), very humid and strong thunderstorms hitting almost every day. Today some 40 people were injured in Pori when the storm hit a rock festival. Yesterday I was photographing a house that was set on fire by a lightning. That image is in the previous post.
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Technical stuff: This one was taken with a tripod. At the lakeshore it was dark, no ambient light except a faint glow coming from the nearby road. The lens I had here was a 17-40mm wide angle zoom, the camera was set to f5, ISO 200 and exposure time of 30 seconds. I’m not experienced in photographing lightnings, so if you have a better idea, PLEASE share it with me by commenting!! :-) I bet there’s another storm coming already!
