Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/08/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have been on business trips to Helsinki at least 30 times in the past 6 years, but usually these do not provide enough free time to really explore the place. So this past weekend I went up there with my father to show him around and to play tourist. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Finnish Museum of Photography. It is part of a larger contemporary art centre called The Cable Factory. As the name implies, it is an old converted industrial facility, something which is quite prevalent in Scandinavia. It is a really interesting place, located in the midst of a fascinating industrial landscape on the western edge of the city (Tallberginkatu 1G, 00180 Helsinki, tel. +358 9 686 6360, http://www.fmp.fi). They currently have a special exhibition called Finnish Nature Photography 100 Years, running until August 26. Nature is very important to the Finns, and their landscape is an important part of their national identity. The photos on show are superb, and for added interest some of the actual blinds used by the photographers are also on display, along with pictures of them at work. Other parts of the museum contain contemporary Finnish photography, which was not my cup of tea, as much of it appeared to be inspired by the likes of Cindy Sherman. But to each her own. There is also a bookshop with lots of books on Finnish and Scandinavian photography, unfortunately mostly in Finnish, a language which is beyond my linguistic capabilities. To give you an idea, the title of the book accompanying the nature exhibition is "Luontokuvan totuuden hetki" which according to the museum translates into "Moment of truth for nature photography". Enough said... The place is definitely worth a visit if you are in Helsinki, a wonderful place to visit in the summer. Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch Picture-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com General photo page: http://members.tripod.com/belgiangator