Getting to know a city is always kind of an interesting process for me. It is similar to getting to know a stranger you have just been introduced to. Sometimes you know a bit about this person via reputation, hearsay from mutual friends, or just from reading their Twitter. And other times you go in pretty cold, thrown together by whim and circumstance and you start from zero. Furthermore, there is sometimes good chemistry and the two of you hit it right off, sharing common interests and thinking along similar wavelengths. Other times it can be slow and awkward and herky jerky in its progress. Yes, getting to know a city is just like that. Usually I travel to cities I really want to see, so there is an initial level of excitement underscoring the whole affair. But in the case of Helsinki I was pretty neutral. I certainly wasn't disinterested in seeing the city. I am willing to meet any city out there and learn its streets and histories. But Helsinki wasn't anywhere near the top of my list. It just happened to be a city that made a lot of sense to stop in while visiting Finland and later the Faroe Islands.
So I felt a bit flat-footed when I hit the ground there and it really took me several days to start to appreciate the charm of it. So often appreciation for something comes well after earning a decent understanding of it. And the first couple of days just skimming the surface of a place really only allows a cursory glance at the place. So it wasn't until I had spent the better part of a week here, walking, learning the flow of the city, watching the people, wondering questions and trying to make up answers for them, reading the history online in the evenings, eating the food, drinking the coffee (even though most coffee shops didn't open until 10am and some not until noon) that I felt like it was, if not becoming familiar at least no longer as much a stranger. We started to realize we had a few things in common. And the small, awkward inane chitchat we were doing evolved into something that while still a little stilted at least resembled a real conversation a bit more closely. It was an interesting process for sure.
Anyway, I have a few images from this city. Not too many. And I realized I don't think I had posted any of them yet. So I will share a few here along with some of my recollections of the time there.
Holga 120N
Bergger Pancro 400
Tags: Bergger Pancro 400 Holga Helsinki Finland Europe multiple exposures cityscape film
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Suomenlinna is an old fortress dating back to the 1700s that sits on a chain of islands in the Gulf of Finland just to the southeast of Helsinki. There are ferries that run you out to the fortress and I spent the better part of a very chilly day exploring its various corners.
For some reason that is lost to my memory, I did not make very many long exposures on this portion of the trip, but I paused long enough for one here.
Hasselblad 500C/M
Kodak TMAX 100
Tags: Hasselblad 500C/M Kodak TMAX 100 finland Helsinki Suomenlinna film Medium Format 6x6 long exposure
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