30 June 2013

iceland I.

I have just got home two days ago and my memories from Iceland are so vivid that I can still see those sublime landscapes when I close my eyes. Iceland is every bit as beautiful as everyone says and more: I have truly never seen anything like it. I am so grateful I was able to spend those magnificent ten days there and I feel like that has surely been one of the most beautiful journeys I have ever made!
I have taken a total of 14 film rolls with my Hasselblad and Nikon and Jacopo has taken many PZ 680 with his Polaroid Image System - while I am waiting for my rolls to be developed I want to share here two portraits Jacopo and I took of each other along the route F35.
PZ 680 Color Protection in Iceland:
♥ we are both wearing our Icelandic pullovers.
the journey started on the 18th of June at 4pm in Keflavík and ended on the 28th at 8am in Keflavík: we have managed to go around the whole island with the exception of the Westfjords and a few other places - some of the roads in the middle of the country were still unusable after the winter - which we will have to keep in mind next time. we have seen mountains, glaciers, lava fields, rocky cliffs, abandoned farms and met Icelandic horses, sheep, reindeers, seals, puffins and many more birds: it has really been like a dream come true.
P.S. I will share more photographs and memories from Iceland over the next few weeks: there is so much I want to tell and so much I want to show!
P.P.S. Jacopo and I are planning a special project that involves the numerous amount of photographs we have taken during our journey: I will tell you more about it soon!
♥ the soundtrack of the journey: Kveikur by Sigur Rós

17 June 2013

summer in helsinki III.

I would like to share just a few more photographs from that film roll I took with my Nikon FM soon after it had been repaired - over a week has passed now since then. when we first moved into this apartment it had been autumn and I couldn't really imagine how beautiful the backyard would have become in the summer: now the flowers are in bloom - daisies, roses, lilacs - and the bushes and trees are wonderfully green and overgrown. everything gives the garden an overall wild romantic look which I love: it reminds both of my grandmother's garden and of those English ones of the 18th century. two sundays ago I spent the afternoon reading in the sun surrounded by birds and flowers: it had been truly relaxing and I am hoping I will have more sunny days to spend in our backyard this summer. I took these last few shots around the rose bushes - which had then just started to bloom.
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H:
three photographs from our backyard in bloom.
now it is time to start packing: tomorrow we will fly to Iceland to start our 10-day road trip there. I still cannot believe I will finally see those sublime landscapes: I hope I will be able to capture some of that magic in my photographs - I got very many film rolls to record such a dream coming true.
see you all later! ♥

14 June 2013

summer in helsinki II.

the weather has been quite gloomy for the past few days and the temperature dropped down to 15 degrees. it is raining at the moment and looking at the photographs I took last week makes me longing even more for that glorious weather. I am confident though that we will see more sunny days this summer in Helsinki - meanwhile I will try to make the most of these rainy ones.
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H:
a few more of the photographs I took in Seurasaari last week.
that little red house is possibly my favourite among the buildings of the open air museum - even though I enjoy walking around the whole of it everytime I get the chance. on the seashore there were a lot of ducklings and goslings: I seem not to ever get tired of staring at birds. the second photograph is certainly my favourite of the whole batch: I hadn't been taking double exposures for a very long time and somehow I felt like I wanted to do it again that day. I really love the way it turned out and I think I am going to take more on the same line.
have a happy weekend!

11 June 2013

summer in helsinki I.

my Nikon FM had already been fixed last week - earlier than I was expecting it - and since I was eager to try her out I decided to go on an evening walk with Jacopo around Seurasaari. I hadn't been there for a very long time and it was lovely to see the island once again full of green and flowers. that evening the weather was particularly mild and the light was magnificent: there is nothing more beautiful than the summer evening sun.
Nikon FM - Fuji Pro 400H:
my first four favourite photographs from the film roll - in chronological order.
I know the calendar says it is not summer yet - but it does feel so already here in Helsinki: I have been enjoying these past few weeks immensely and I still believe that if it was always summer Finland would be one of the best places in the world. don't get me wrong: I do love a bit of snow in its own time but isn't summer more cheerful than winter? I just cannot get over the beauty of flowers.
P.S. more photographs to come soon: I am so happy my Nikon FM is back! ♥

07 June 2013

nuuksio national park II.

a week has almost passed from our first visit to Nuuksio National Park - yet I still have a few prints from my latest darkroom session that I think are worth to share here. the last two photographs were taken by Jacopo: I especially like the portrait he took of me standing on the wooden bridge - I am wearing my dear old straw hat which has become a symbol of summer for me.
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Ilford HP5+
5 prints from my darkroom.
it took us about two hours to go around Lake Haukkalampi: the path wasn't as easy as we were expecting it to be and the intense heat made us slower. I am not the ultimate hiker but those beautiful surroundings really kept me going and once we got back to the start I thought it had been totally worth it. I am looking forward to visiting Nuuksio a second time - hopefully before the end of the summer: it would be nice to go there by bike with a few friends too!

05 June 2013

nuuksio national park I.

it has been very hot lately like it hadn't been in two years at least: it feels like summer is here already. last sunday we decided to visit Nuuksio National Park for the first time ever: I couldn't believe we still hadn't been there in almost three years - being Nuuksio fairly close to Helsinki and reachable by public transports. we first took a train to Espoo and then bus 85 - which left us a 2-km walk to the park: all in all a 2-hour journey that was totally worth it: Nuuksio was every bit as fascinating as I was expecting it to be. we walked the Haukankierros path around the lake Haukkalampi - which took us up and down a few cliffs and through a beautiful forest.
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Ilford HP5+
5 prints from my darkroom.
the last photograph is a courtesy of Jacopo.
after graduating I had to empty my studio at the university and storage my darkroom equipment in a friend's. finally last week I rented a van and with Jacopo's help I have brought everything home: since setting up the darkroom in our little bathroom was the only possible solution for me to keep on developing and printing my black and white films - I decided to go for it. yesterday I set it up for the first time: being back in there again had been a bliss - even if it wasn't as spacious as in my studio.

I really enjoyed our sunday in Nuuksio: I will tell you more about it in a second post. there are also some more photographs that I like from this film roll so I will share more prints too!

03 June 2013

kuupuu pt.2.

below is the second batch of photographs me and Jonna Karanka have chosen among the ones I took of her in Niskala Arboretum. for those who haven't read my previous post: in occasion of an interview for DRECK Magazine I took care of a photo-shoot with Kuupuu - the solo project of Jonna Karanka and one of my favourite Finnish music projects. that day Jonna brought along some of her old cassette tapes.
my photographs with Kuupuu:
Nikon FM - Kodak Portra 800
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Kodak Portra 800
I had a great time with Kuupuu: by getting to know her more I have found out that not only she is a wonderful artist but also a very nice person who enjoys spending time in the wilderness and loves cats. at the end of the day Jonna had a surprise for me: a copy of her album Sous Juju recently released on EM-Records. thank you Jonna!

read my interview with Kuupuu.
learn more about Kuupuu.
view more photographs on my website.

01 June 2013

kuupuu pt.1.

over the past couple of weeks I had the chance to spend some time with Jonna Karanka - the artist behind the Finnish music project known as Kuupuu: the reason was an interview for DRECK Magazine. since Kuupuu has always been among my favourite local artists - taking care of her interview and especially doing a photo-shoot with her had been a very exciting experience for me. I would like to share some of the photographs I have taken of Kuupuu in a couple of posts and this is the first one. for the location I chose a place that is very dear to me and for the cameras I brought along my two most favourite ones.
my photographs with Kuupuu:
Nikon FM - Kodak Portra 800
Hasselblad 500 C/M - Kodak Portra 800
the weather that day had been quite gloomy and the sun came out only a few times from behind the clouds - yet it didn't rain and I was very pleased with the colours around the forest. I will share more photographs in a couple of days.

read my interview with Kuupuu.
learn more about Kuupuu.