On the inside, looking out

I really think the opportunity to take photographs from a moving vehicle is one not to be missed. Whenever I get the chance I like to take internal and external shots: internal ones of fellow passengers, signs or other interior details, external ones of the passing landscape, the transition zones between urban and rural, the effects of speed.

These are a few of the shots I took on the bus between Helsinki and Porvoo, and on the train between Helsinki and Tampere last October. Partly it’s a liking for a record of the fleeting and impermanent shot, partly a record of landscapes impossible to capture any other way, partly the ease of taking pictures of whatever passes by. Reflections and out of focus shots only add to the character of a collection of impromptu snatched pictures. String enough of these together and you would have a unique travelogue of the journey, the passenger’s view, the inside looking out.

Tampere's Vapriikki Museum

Tampere has an excellent museum in the Vapriikki: several museums in one. I wanted to include a couple of photographs from the Shoe Museum and the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame. See www.tampere.fi/vapriikki for more. I didn't get to see the photo archives, among the country's largest archives of historical photographs. The building is what used to be the engineering works of Tampella Ltd., on the banks of the Tammerkoski rapids. I spent a very pleasant hour and a half on a whistle stop tour of the main exhibits..........first the Shoe Museum.

No problems with getting the camera out, which is always a good thing. And it was hardly crowded.

In my next post I will be returning to some of my favourite parts of Helsinki.

Getting around Helsinki

I'm just going to have to write another post about using public transport in Helsinki. But this time it's going to feature a small number of photographs taken inside looking out. I thnk one reason I enjoyed this form of travel so much, especially the trams, was the way that it offered a comfortable and safe means of getting around and an escape from the elements (we were there in October, and though it wasn't particularly cold for that time of year, it did rain rather a lot). I just relish getting on the tram and knowing where it's going and roughly how long it will take. I like the chance to watch people come and go and I like the chance to see the city at an easy pace without having to walk everywhere. I bought a three day pass and just jumped on a tram whenever I could.

The first one was taken on a tram waiting at the Lasipalatsi intgerchange in the centre of Helsinki (between Kamppi and the Central Station). The second was taken on a moving tram, a No.8 I think, on my way out to the Kaapeli (Cable Factory), Talberginkatu, home of museums, galleries and art schools, and well worth a visit. I managed to wander into some sort of art exhibition preview, which was good for a complimentary drink, some people watching and some photo opportunities.

The next one is on the train to Tampere. I took quite a few pictures through the train window, either to convey the impression of the train's speed or to record the passing landscapes (what better way to photograph these fleeting impressions of the landscape, seen only from the train?). I did notice how quiet it was on the train, despite there being quite a few other passengers (is this a Finnish character trait?). The last one is on the bus out of Tampere, about to leave for the airport (Pirkkala). Yet another rainy day - it rained the whole of my day there. The indirect effect of the waether was for me to spend the afternoon in two museums: the Moominvalley at Tampere Art Museum and the Vaprikki - and I'm glad I did. But more of that some other time.