bluespec.

faces: andressa

2012-02-14T02:45:00.001+02:00

Andressa is a born & raised paulistano. She's a swimmer and a student attending the University of São Paulo, more accurately Escola de Educacão Física e Esporte. After she graduates, she's hoping to work on prevention and treatment of sports injuries among athletes.

She was gracious enough to show me around the stunningly huge campus area, Universitary City.

fever

2012-02-12T00:41:00.000+02:00

I caught a tropical disease which skyrocketed my temperature up to over 39 degrees celsius. Half hallucinating, half asleep I dreamt that the city itself wanted to poison me, showing itself in the form of an ocean of filthy waste that kept rising from the sewers, covering the bed I was lying in until only the tip of my nose was above the surface. Slimy, foul tasting goo filled my mouth and nostrils and I wanted to puke like never before, only I couldn't - I wasn't able to eat a thing for over 48 hours. Once the nightmares passed and I could observe my surroundings again, I was alerted by a squishy sound, rolling from one side to another. I had apparently sweated so much, my mattress had turned into a makeshift swamp of salt, moisture and linen.

Then it hit me - Tropical disease my ass. I suddenly recalled João serving up some pretty unappetizing sausages for breakfast, which according to the package I later fished up from the trash bin, had gone rotten around two months earlier.

Biting my lip I stood up, still feeling like crap but determined to confront João about his hazardous cooking, only to find out he'd been spared of the fever but had been struck by a violent case of diarrhea. He'd shit himself numerous times. Both alone and in public.

I have to admit, it made me feel a little better.

faces: corina

2012-01-31T18:47:00.000+02:00

Corina was born in the Brazilian state of Bahia. She moved to metropolitan São Paulo some thirty years ago.

She lives with her husband on the outskirts of São Paulo, in Carapicuíba. Her husband suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a progressive lung disease which prevents him from working. They have no children. Every day she takes the hour long train ride to the heart of the city to get to work. She's a maid and has been employed in the same household for the last 26 years.

You can feel her warm presence when she's in a room, whether she's quietly singing to an old melody or just going about her business silently. Some people simply radiate kindness, she's one of them.

Corina has beautiful hands. Ones which are meticulously taken care of but have undoubtedly seen a lot of hard work.

neon brazil

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000+02:00

João's been drinking a lot lately. I'm beginning to realize he has more than a few major habits.

He was out again last night and got carjacked - apparently he'd picked up a pretty young thing whom he was banging in his car in the very relative safety of a dark alley in downtown São Paulo, just barely wide enough for another car to pass by when two motorcycles carrying three dudes in total came screeching to a halt, one on both sides of the vehicle. The bikers smashed his windows with spark plugs and the merry passenger on the driver's side jumped off and pulled out a gun, scaring the living shit out of the aforementioned lady friend of João's - who was at the time saddled on top of him. Well, the chick lost it, ducking down faster than a veteran with PTSD hearing a muffler explode and just plain twisted João's dick, bending and spraining it painfully enough to render him paralyzed for the remainder of the robbery. Fuck, for all I know it could've been a set up - imagine that, a mousetrap for cocks? I mean, it's bad enough a man gets interrupted by a stick-up right as he's about to nut but to get his privates mashed into a pulp in the process? Fuck me, that's just adding insult to injury.

Anyway, João got jacked but the thing is he's got a hidden compartment in his car in which he'd stashed his car keys, along with a few invites to SPFW, São Paulo Fashion Week. I don't even want to know where he scored those or why he treasured them enough to stash them along with his most prized possessions. Long story short, the robbers couldn't get the engine started and after they'd left with the stereos, João's wallet and a gym bag full of sweaty rags he managed to drive his banged up piece of shit ride back home.

I was blissfully unaware of these events when I woke up this morning and João didn't fill me in until he picked me up and I noticed the broken windows. Well, smelling his breath from a distance I insisted on taking the wheel - I already know better than to ride shotgun with him when he's on a binge. I've got better things to do than burn to cinders in a fiery explosion resulting from a car crash on a continent I've barely scratched the surface of. Shit, with the luck I've been having I probably wouldn't even die.

Right, so we got to the show and João kept scratching and grabbing at his injured groin in between taking long, lusting gulps of champagne straight out of the bottle. He was making such a hassle, I was sure we'd be ejected by the bouncers before the show'd have a chance to kick off. Well, somehow we dodged that bullet but if glares could kill, the 95% female audience would've slaughtered us right there and then.

faces: einar

2012-01-23T21:59:00.001+02:00

Einar used to be a world class platform diver in his youth.

Now a 79 year-old paulistano, he originally came to Brazil in 1965, recruited from Finland by an american corporation, at that time the world's largest coffee trader, Anderson & Clayton to head their Brazilian interests in Santos, Brazil.

Shortly after his arrival he met his future wife, Lenie, in Santos - however Einar was soon transferred to work in Rio de Janeiro. Growing weary of travelling between the two cities, the couple wed in 1967 and proceeded to make their home in Rio. Later that same year, they had their daughter, Erika.

Three years after he landed in Brazil, he was offered a more lucrative deal with a local shipping company and having just completed his contract he switched over to develop and enlarge, among other commodity trades, their coffee exporting and take it nationwide. Success there led to Brazil's (at the time) largest shipping company, Intercontinental Cafe, hiring him in 1973. The following year Brazil opened up its foreign trade completely at which point Einar took advantage of his unique insight into the raw commodities business and dived head first into the commodities market as a broker. He moved to Brazil's economic centre, São Paulo, in 1985 and has lived there ever since.

Lenie died of cancer in 2010, after they'd been married for 43 years - leaving behind a deeply saddened, yet forward-looking widower.

Einar never quite lost his boyish charms. He's a quick thinker and arguably an even quicker talker. His hearing isn't quite what it used to be anymore, but he doesn't let that hinder his part of a conversation - the other participants will just have to speak up.

bar do biu

2012-01-22T06:29:00.001+02:00

Waking up in a sixth floor apartment in Higienopolis, I felt a strange pressure over me. My eyes were pretty much glued together from cognac-induced dehydration and I was struggling to see. Resorting to palpating my surroundings, I quickly realized I was lying under a thick wooden board about 80cm by 1,5m in size, covered in photographs. The preceding evening, the family snapshot covered plank had stood erected on the wall next to my bed, but had apparently come loose during the night, having landed on top of me, leaving a slight bruise on my forehead. Chuckling quietly, dried up and severely jetlagged, I dragged myself out of bed, temples aching to a throbbing rhythm.

My local contact, João, was already up and doing his morning workout - I skipped the chance to follow suit and opted for a cup of strong, black coffee on the balcony. After a while of watching the hummingbirds and parrots feeding just a few meters away I was well on my way to feeling better. However, I had slept way past breakfast and was in desperate need of nutrition. Actually, it was already pretty late for lunch and João was starving as well - he suggested we go check out a haunt of his, Bar do Biu.

We jumped in a cab and a short ride later arrived in the neighboring part of town, Pinheiros, where an inconspicuous hole in the wall type of front hid behind it bucketloads of soul.

The joint was opened up in 1983 by Edí and her husband Biu, serving excellent north brazilian cuisine to a serious cult following.

After an incredible meal and a couple of the tallest, strongest, most dangerous caipirinhas I've ever had, I felt brave enough to storm the kitchen. By some twist of fate (actually, thinking back I might not have asked at all - the cachaca in the caipirinhas may well have been doing the talking), I was let in to do damage. More than a few missteps and knocked over kitchen utensils later, I had gotten to meet nearly the whole staff and see Edì stir her pots while keeping her troops in line.

são paulo

2012-01-22T01:44:00.001+02:00

The metropolitan area of São Paulo houses 22 million souls, making it the largest city (by population) in the southern hemisphere.

Everything about the city is big - the stadiums, the amount of skyscrapers and the 10 million cars jamming up the streets.

However incomprehensibly huge the city is, it's also home to some of the warmest people I've ever come across.

a new year

2012-01-07T01:27:00.000+02:00

Cold.

The new year is in its infancy - everything is quiet and the remnants of the past year are still being cleaned up and thrown away.

I'm doing my own cleaning and packing up as well; in a week I'll be flying off to Brazil for an undetermined period of time. Walking down familiar streets, I feel anxious and sentimental. The chill doesn't bother me.

aulanko

2011-12-21T19:15:00.001+02:00

The vast majority of Finland, around 80 percent of her 338 430 square kilometers, is covered by forest.

editor's picks

2011-12-02T16:02:00.001+02:00

Long, long overdue edit of individual pictures, which have not previously been featured here on bluespec, from my 2010 year project.

2010 taught me a lot and as -11 is drawing to an end, I appreciate those lessons even more. On the surface - from a technical point of view, the process of making images became so intuitive that I finally began to have more and more room in my head to take in and tackle the much harder and more important issues, such as deeper meaning and continuity.

I'm grateful for each picture and every single year.

pianist

2011-11-29T17:49:00.001+02:00

Gust to gale to storm.

Nails may be clipped and hands washed to keep the nether world safely tucked away, at a distance. Walls can be built so the inhabitants may harbor a sense of higher sophistication.

Ultimately only gravity can stop (a) growth.

depth

2011-11-15T16:45:00.001+02:00

He had his firstborn, a baby boy, on September 19th.

I took his picture three weeks later - inarguably the missed sleep shows.

smao

2011-11-15T16:11:00.001+02:00

It'll probably be awhile until we're in the same country at the same time again. I'll miss you, man.

transitional diptychs

2011-11-14T15:35:00.001+02:00

Winter's right across the corner. These pictures were taken in Helsinki at the end of the last one, as we crossed into springtime.

The city takes on another face as the weather gets colder. Intervals between people's steps drumming the concrete become shorter, smiles get buried behind scarves and intrigued looks turn into hasty glances.

I don't mind - Spring wouldn't feel as sweet without these cold, dark months.

breakfast of champions

2011-11-01T15:49:00.000+02:00

Copycat warning: I've outrageously lifted both the title and the liberal use of the written term beavers from the late great Vonnegut.

He was on a quest for wide-open beavers. Not Vonnegut (As far as I know, which is very little) but the gentleman pictured here. The night before, he'd pulled out all the stops to get one to open up, to no avail. He'd given the beaver-keeper hugs and kisses, even cited poems. Import stuff, mind you. The nice variety. Her legs remained crossed. I didn't really ask why he thought that was, and am beating myself for it in retrospect. Then again, the beaver-keepers' motives are notoriously hard to predict.

The man was simply put, on a mission. As agitated as he understandably was, he was kind enough to exchange a couple of words with me. Most of the words circled around beavers of varying furriness.

As we were talking, I was, like a true narcissist, already a thousand miles away, thinking about writing these very lines you're reading now. To tie the pictures into the conversation I was feverishly looking for a widely used local beaver variety, often found scribbled onto surfaces such as seen here in the background, to include in a frame.

I didn't find one. I felt like a failed photographer.

Vittu.

black sun silhouettes

2011-11-01T03:30:00.000+02:00

Perhaps I could interest you in my imitation of a Nightingale?

anxiety

2011-10-31T13:46:00.000+02:00

Ever since I was a kid, I've had this reoccuring visual tic where I close my eyes and see scenes as if fast-forwarded. Everything pulses and twitches in a way which at first seems chaotic and uncontrollable, only to reveal a certain order to it upon closer examination. Kind of like having your eye buried in a wounded ant colony on steroids.

It used to freak me out. Doesn't anymore.

magazine assignment: municipal financial journalism

2011-10-21T13:41:00.003+03:00

I recently shot an interesting assignment for 'Journalisti'. The article deals with the inherent problems journalists run into when writing about municipal finances. The sheer amount of data involved, tight timetables and coming up with means of captivating their audience's interest, to name a few.

The writer who posed for me for the portaits is Kyösti Jurvelin, a financial journalist working for 'Kauppalehti'.

We decided to go for a very conceptual photo pair for the portraits. Kind of an inversed version of the cover in the inner pages, where the black background is replaced by white and the lingering shadows turn into light wrapping around the subject while still retaining some punch. This same concept was further underlined in post-work by laying out municipal finance raw data and numbers first on top of the subject on the cover, to accentuate the problems and then placing said data behind the subject in the inner pages to highlight a more positive message of problem solving. Of putting things behind you if you will.

The first picture is the cover shot, the second one is an inner spread which I laid out with the art desk in mind, so they'd have continuity and a bit of texture behind the text which was to be laid out on top of the left page (the lighter side). The third picture is another spread, an illustrative background for the rest of the story.

My original idea for the third picture was to dig up some relevant data and use it to build an actual diagram, a bar chart, out of stacks of paper to illustrate again, the sheer amount of data one has to go through to write about municipal finances.

Well, I'll be damned.. I guess I should've seen that one coming; it didn't really pan out the way I figured it would. I became a victim of the same overload of numbers. After hours of trying to make relevant comparisons (comparisons that would also result in a graphic bar chart, to add injury to insult) between different municipalities I was left standing in front of a makeshift diagram I had already made, sighing and shaking my head. My eyes were getting sore so I took off my glasses and dropped them on top of one of the stacks and it hit me: That's the picture right there! Along with the cover and the second portrait (where the subject is removing his glasses), the glasses added perspective, continuity and a story to the set of images.

To sum it up, I'm sometimes a real control freak when it comes to my work but I'll take a happy accident and run with it all day, no doubt about it!

I'll touch on how I lit these in a later post!

'at home' featured on photographyserved.com

2011-10-21T12:31:00.000+03:00

An ongoing project where I take portraits of my friends in their own homes was just featured on http://www.photographyserved.com in some interesting, respectable company.

Click here or on the URL above to check it out!

Alternatively, you can click here to view the set in progress on bluespec.

untitled - shapes/forms

2011-10-19T19:21:00.000+03:00

When my head aches and my eyes are sore, from squinting and trying to distill meaning and reason from the sea of stimuli we all face daily, I stop looking and just let myself see.

That's my therapy and meditation.

sauna, dad

2011-10-17T22:21:00.001+03:00

My grandfather built this sauna. It isn't the biggest or the fanciest but it does have a wonderful warmth to it. He has since passed on.

My dad looks more and more like his father by the day.

Maybe at some point I'll get to share a few moments in this very sauna with my own son or daughter and be ripped into for starting to look like grandpa. Who knows? Genes are funny like that.

seven blocks apart

2011-10-04T15:02:00.002+03:00

Life in a city throws so many events and personalities at its dwellers. Some of them sad, others spur a smile or a smirk, followed by a disbelieving shake of the head.

Whatever my own reaction may be towards a given situation - I feel like I'm always participating in or at the very least witnessing someone else's life.

Over the years these spontaneous spikes of "content" on the streets of my dear city have infused nearly every corner, piece of pavement and park bench with an emotional charge so strong it has resulted in what seems like a self-feeding cycle of affection.

bleeding glass

2011-10-03T19:33:00.000+03:00

You know how old window glasses sometimes get thicker towards the bottom? I used to think glass never quite solidified, but kept flowing, slowly and steadily through the years.

I later found out I was wrong. It apparently has something to do with the techniques used to make antique glass.

Nevertheless, light still flows through it beautifully.

the hat's a touchy subject

2011-09-20T10:32:00.000+03:00

He's just another face on a wall, easily passed by. Quickly forgotten if ever noticed at all. There are hundreds if not thousands just like him in every major city. Silent and static.

Unlike the aforementioned sulking, brim-hatted fellow, the gentleman on the left was more than happy to share a few words with me even though I disturbed his lunch.

He was curious about my camera. We ended up talking about TV outs, connectors and cables. I didn't ask, but I was left thinking he had a background in engineering.

can't go back

2011-09-19T14:05:00.000+03:00

red herring

2011-09-18T21:51:00.000+03:00

The man pictured fishing here is one of those genuine old souls. The type you feel compelled to listen to. I feel he's always aspired to be good. I consider him a close friend and feel blessed for that.

For as long as I can remember, he's enjoyed fishing. I think it calms him down.

ballerina dreaming

2011-09-15T15:33:00.000+03:00

close

2011-09-15T15:27:00.000+03:00

something pretty + something else

2011-09-06T19:48:00.000+03:00

homestreethome (Punajuuri Block Party 3.9.2011)

2011-09-06T14:02:00.001+03:00

I had a blast - thank you Osku, Osma, Kaapo, Shadi, Jarski, Simo, Jonttu, Harri, Jugi, Grade & everyone else!

it gets lonely being the last one left

2011-09-02T17:48:00.000+03:00

He'd been stabbed in the thigh a couple weeks back over some empty bottles. Speaking through the mist of an early afternoon buzz he told me how his addictions hold him in a tight grip.

He wondered if he should get back at the stabber. Before, he wouldn't have had to - he used to have friends who, too, were gripped by addictions.

Mikko

2011-08-19T13:06:00.000+03:00

Gypsy Queen

2011-08-18T14:33:00.001+03:00

Colors: Archipelago, pt. 3: Black

2011-08-15T17:29:00.000+03:00

To me, friendship has always meant being able to share a comfortable silence.

Black:

Colors: Archipelago, pt. 2: Mauve

2011-08-02T18:03:00.000+03:00

The harsh terrain which had been painted in various shades of blue just the night before, now turned into a rich,

soft rainbow of mauve. Gradually the delicate colors seemed to envelope nature's rough-cut rock sculptures, lending them a sensibility

I had never witnessed before.

The seemingly neverending open sea was set ablaze by the last rays of the slowly declining sun. The island's few meadows of flowers and

round stones, nestled in between and dammed off from the ocean by veiny rock cliffs, burst into a cavalcade of color. Meanwhile,

as if in sync, the masses of water surrounding the island quieted down as the wind was reduced from a breeze to silence.

The last lingering flickers of vivid light were all that remained to reign in solitude.

Mauve:

Double Fifty

2011-07-27T21:04:00.001+03:00

Colors: Archipelago, pt. 1: Blue

2011-07-25T14:28:00.000+03:00

Earlier this month, the finnish archipelago absolutely dazzled me with its diverse nature and spectacular landscapes. Because of this diversity and wide range of visual material I've chosen to publish this set in bits, according to color. The next color will be up for viewing next week.

Blue:

helsinki love

2011-07-25T13:50:00.001+03:00

Point of view

2011-07-07T17:00:00.001+03:00

Coming down

2011-07-06T01:00:00.000+03:00

2011-06-30T14:27:00.000+03:00

The Grind

2011-06-14T20:03:00.001+03:00

Steps

2011-06-12T17:18:00.005+03:00

Resident

2011-06-06T21:57:00.008+03:00

Crutch

2011-05-31T23:40:00.000+03:00

He's a cyclist. He broke his arm and couldn't ride any of his own bikes which all had him leaning too much on his arms so he got himself a crutch - pictured on the right.

Pier

2011-05-29T22:02:00.001+03:00

HEEEELLLL YEAAHHHH!! Ice hockey world champion 2011: FINLAND!

2011-05-16T16:03:00.000+03:00

City shapes #2

2011-05-15T16:11:00.000+03:00

Transmission

2011-05-13T19:46:00.001+03:00

City shapes

2011-05-13T19:39:00.001+03:00

Letting go

2011-05-09T17:38:00.000+03:00

Fly

2011-05-09T14:24:00.000+03:00

Sadness to sauna

2011-05-06T16:01:00.001+03:00

Inspiration, expiration

2011-05-04T20:24:00.000+03:00

Busy

2011-04-29T20:12:00.003+03:00

With (among other things) this!

O

2011-04-06T14:37:00.000+03:00

Passing

2011-04-05T20:21:00.001+03:00

Below

2011-04-04T22:13:00.000+03:00

Singer/Audience

2011-03-20T16:27:00.000+02:00

HKI Arkt+

2011-03-19T18:31:00.000+02:00

Ei - Ei!

2011-03-17T17:08:00.001+02:00

wasted on film

2011-03-16T19:37:00.000+02:00

Affinity

2011-02-28T23:02:00.000+02:00

We pass by characters every day.

Some of us find them intriguing while others opt to keep their distance. Regardless of our base reaction, most of us usually keep stepping, even in instances where we've already taken the time to wonder what the deal with a particular eccentric-looking gentleman or lady might be.

This particular gent is one of the regulars around my neighborhood. He's lived here for more than Thirty years and gets by with what he gets for selling pamphlets, manifestos of sorts he makes for every holiday and special occasion. When his calendar looks dry as far as noteworthy days go, he writes crime short stories and sells those on the corner.

I used to pass him by every other day, hurrying off wherever I felt I needed to be. Inside I was kicking myself for not stopping since I always figured he'd have a story or two to share, given the chance. While I went my own way, he stayed there on the corner, wearing the same old jacket and hanging onto a plastic bag, full of his pamphlets.

For me, this story is not of him particularly, though - even if at first glance the pictures seem to be.

These wonderful, eccentric personalities, along with our reactions to them go a long way at defining our neighborhoods and lending them soul. In a rapidly moving world, it's hard to grow roots as it is. When you factor in years of prosperity dragging up housing costs and most city blocks being gentrified, the very essence that transforms stone and wood into homes is being diluted.

I just hope to never forget we're all kooks. For whatever reason most of us just don't wear our hearts on our sleeves.

We all have our own twist, our own hustle - our unique Helsinki in our own heads and hearts.

Click here for the full set & a poem (in finnish) by my dear friend, Harri Hertell

Muodin edelläkävijä

Näen hänet helposti mielessäni.

Hänellä on pitkät

rasvoittuneet hiukset

ja pälvikalju.

Hän kulkee aina nopeasti

ja vihaisen näköisenä.

Hänellä tuntuu aina olevan kiire.

Hänellä on vanhat

likaiset vaatteet

ja hän etsii usein asioita

roskakoreista.

Hänellä on usein sänki

ja häneltä puuttuu muutama hammaskin.

Hän puhuu joskus itselleen

ja hänellä on aina jaloissaan saappaat

samat siniset kumisaappaat

vuodesta toiseen.

Hänellä on talvella kumisaappaat

syksyllä kumisaappaat

kesällä kumisappaat

ja keväälläkin hänellä on kumisaappaat

samat siniset kumisaappaat.

Olen huomannut

että vanhat naiset

katsovat häntä nokkiaan nyrpistäen

ja miettivät varmaankin mielessään

että kunpa tuollaiset katoaisivat katukuvasta kokonaan.

Minä muistan hänet

jo monen vuoden takaa.

Hän on aina kulkenut saman näköisenä

pitkin Helsinkiä

siniset kumisaappaat jaloissaan.

Minä en haluaisi

hänen katoavan mihinkään.

Viime taiteiden yönä

puhuin hänelle ensimmäistä kertaa.

Olin juomassa kaljaa Ruttopuistossa.

Hän vastasi nopeasti

esittämääni kysymykseen

vastausta useasti toistaen:

Ei lasipulloja! Ei lasipulloja!

Silloin

minulla oli mukana

vain lasipulloja.

Olen myös huomannut

että maailmassa asioilla on tapana muuttua

muodilla varsinkin

se saa usein

suorastaan naurettavia piirteitä.

Tällä hetkellä muodissa ovat kumisaappaat.

Kaduilla näkee naisia

joilla on keltaisia kumisaappaita

kukkakuvioisia kumisaappaita

oransseja, pinkkejä ja raidallisia kumisaappaita.

Nuo samat vanhat tantat

jotka katsoivat häntä nyrpein kasvoin

kulkevat nykyään itsekin kumisaappaissa

ja minusta se on hupaisaa.

Hänhän niissä kulki ensin

eikä hän siltikään nyt ylenkatso

noita vanhoja naisia.

Hän sanoo vain:

Ei lasipulloja! Ei lasipulloja!

ja toivon että ensi kerralla kun kohtaamme

minulla on muitakin kuin lasipulloja mukanani

ja toivon

että nuo vanhat naiset

ovat seuraavassa elämässä

hänen kengissään.

--Harri Hertell, 2007

Sushi buffets & chinese coffee

2011-02-26T14:00:00.000+02:00

Framed, still

2011-02-26T13:56:00.000+02:00

Zombie street 50mm

2011-02-24T16:11:00.000+02:00

Treading north

2011-02-21T18:53:00.001+02:00

Black sun

2011-02-14T17:39:00.000+02:00

Notes: Helsinki - Myrskylä - Helsinki (Souls + Wood)

2011-02-02T15:04:00.000+02:00

I wanted to start the project with something new so, true to myself I went a little nuts with it.

I figured I hadn't really done a documentary project - This one is split between telling the story of two girls, Shadi & Emma, on a hunt for wooden soles & documenting the beautiful factory that makes them. The hunt led us to Myrskylä to visit the factory in question which is the only one in Finland (still?) making those shoes & soles.

I'm as green as can be when it comes to film, having just recently acquired a Mamiya RB67. This thing is no nimble rangefinder, mind you - It's a bulky, slow, fully mechanical & gorgeous medium format beast from the 60's that forces a formerly fully digital shooter like myself to really focus and think through the process differently. Ten exposures on a 120 roll of film is all you get, so they better amount to something.

My comfort zone is in lighting. I'm pretty snappy when I have a couple of speedlights, monolights or a few power packs churning away by my side. This time I figured the project really screamed for available light & to add injury to insult I figured I'd go with old, slow Ilford PANF plus 50 black&white film, which meant the shutter was going to be open for a long, long time while exposing.

I was hoping for a sunny day, but no such luck! Heavy overcast throughout the day and by the time we got to Myrskylä we had around 10 minutes of light left. This of course meant even longer shutter times!

All in all, the day was filled with firsts and I truly I had a blast. The people who run the factory, Erja & Hannu, were just awesome & they pretty much gave me free reign around the facilities.

Big thanks go to Shadi, Emma, Osku, Erja & Hannu!

Helsinki - Myrskylä - Helsinki (Souls + Wood)

2011-02-02T15:03:00.000+02:00

Still in Helsinki

Shadi at home, preparing

Ready to go, the girls go through the route once more

On our way

Myrskylä

Factory

Hannu digging up sample soles

Spouse in shoe-shopping mode

Soles

We have a winner

Old Singer

Simplicity

Hannu sharing some words of wisdom while showing us out

Through the gate

Up the stairs

Home.

First go at medium format film

2011-01-26T17:13:00.001+02:00

Lähettäjä Carl

Extended family in their homes, vol. 1

2011-01-08T18:44:00.001+02:00

Most of these portraits were already published in my 365 project but seeing as I'm about halfway done with the set, I figured I'd gather the (so far) finished ones into one place!

Faces portrayed here belong to people in my extended family - they're some of the dudes & dudettes I've shed litres of blood, sweat & tears with over the years. I wanted to take portraits of them in their own homes, surrounded by things I instantly associate with them.

Thanks everyone for taking time to pose for me - I love you all more than I can put into words.

Noteworthy: A couple of portraits belonging to this set (which have already been shot) are absent this time around due to pending reshoots in order to keep the set as "together" as possible. So if your picture is missing, don't sweat it, I still gots that sweet love for y'all!

Like a record

2011-01-07T21:14:00.003+02:00

Christmas quiet

2010-12-28T11:41:00.000+02:00

Yesterday revisited

2010-12-15T21:51:00.002+02:00

Not that today wasn't pretty

2010-12-15T21:03:00.000+02:00

Regarding yesterday (Teaser - more to come!)

2010-12-15T21:01:00.000+02:00

skylights

2010-12-13T21:26:00.000+02:00

Mirror shots / aka Take their style & run!

2010-12-12T19:02:00.000+02:00

Salty face

2010-12-12T16:28:00.000+02:00

Oh, there is something under all that snow?

2010-12-07T22:59:00.000+02:00

Treading on ice vol. 1

2010-12-06T22:48:00.002+02:00

Bells & Hassels

2010-12-06T18:11:00.000+02:00

Triple threat

2010-12-05T13:52:00.002+02:00

First Sunday

2010-12-02T15:43:00.000+02:00

Higher Stash

2010-11-30T20:12:00.004+02:00

Prr! Taivaan pensseleitä väijyessä korvissa soi:

Random Summer 2010 - Sun Injection Edition

2010-11-27T23:55:00.000+02:00

coldness

2010-11-26T22:53:00.000+02:00

No more Sun

2010-11-24T18:28:00.000+02:00

Playing in my head on repeat while taking those were among others:

Confusing? Hell yeah!