Friday, July 31, 2015

Window where the blue air bathes a mass of flowers

This morning I walked for 2 1/2 hours in Vaakkoi forests and swamps. I visited several lakes, and on three of them there were Gavia stellata; on the first one there were six birds, on the second three, and on the third three as well. Some of the young ones have learned to fly and look almost the same as adults, but some are still unable to fly, but they do dive.

The photographs were taken on July 16th.

(Posting title is from the poem The Seekers of Lice by Arthur Rimbaud, translated by Wallace Fowlie.)

Thursday, July 30, 2015

We who have forgotten everything

This morning I went for a walk in Luukki, to Ketunkorpi swamps and forests. It was quiet, as the birds don't sing much this late in the summer. There were a lot of blueberries to pick.

The photographs were taken on July 14th in Luukki, near lake Väärälampi.

(Posting title is from the poem You Could Pick It Up by Patricia Goedicke.)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

No longer vegetal, steps into view

Yesterday I planned to rest, but I got restless, and in the evening I rode the bicycle for 1 1/2 hours. Maybe today I'll take it easy.

The photographs were taken on July 14th in Luukki, near lake Väärälampi.

(Posting title is from the poem Language Acquisition by Marie Ponsot.)

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

This is how you say, How did it go?

I took 2648 photographs in five days while traveling to three skiing resorts: Tahko, Vuokatti and Koli. There isn't much skiing to be done now that it is summer, but the hills do offer wide landscape to enjoy, and plenty of exercise when walking up and down the steep slopes.

Tahko was the worst site, because the paths were in bad repair, signs missing altogether, boards and steps decaying, and in one place the start of the path was completely missing because of construction work. However, the landscape is definitely worth further exploration. Vuokatti had also problems with paths, except that the signs were a bit better, although there was plenty of decay. However, Koli turned out to be good, the signs were up-to-date on the walking paths, and paths were mostly in good shape.

Of course, this is quite natural, as Koli is the least dependent on the winter season for attracting visitors. I saw loads of tourist busses in the parking place at Koli, coming from Norway, Denmark, etc. However, the paths were rather empty of people, because of the rain, which flooded the paths in many places. Between Sunday afternoon and Monday morning there was over 30 mm of rain, which is half of the average amount of rain for a whole month.

The photographs were taken on July 13th. It will take some time to go through the photographs taken during the trip north.

(Posting title is from the poem “The Decay of ancient knowledge” by Nick Lantz.)

Monday, July 27, 2015

Frames through rucks while the moist chaff

Well, I'm back home from traveling. About 1400 km driving the car, and 2500 photographs taken. It was raining most of the time. The LX100 got wet, but luckily it seems that there was no permanent damage. One of the bad things about the rain was that there was condensation inside the EVF preventing the use of it. And the front lens was difficult to keep dry, so I fear a lot of the photographs will turn out to be foggy. Perhaps that could be a style?

These photographs were taken in Luukki on July 11th.

(Posting title is from the poem Dew by David Musgrave.)

Sunday, July 26, 2015

An ache of hope that you will come back

Recently I have been driving the car for hours, and doing various things that need to be done while traveling with the children.

Also, I have been walking up and down steep hills. The weather has been wet this summer, so paths have been wet, in many places flooded, and boards and steps are decaying. Map reading skills have been necessary, as path markings have been missing. On the other hand, it has been quiet on the paths, and in the places where we have stayed for the nights.

I'll be back to the usual posting schedule in a day or two, after returning from the travels.

The photographs shown here were taken on July 11th in Luukki.

(Posting title is from the poem Travel Papers by Carolyn Forché.)

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Say where I will find

I'll be rather busy the next few days, so there may be a break in the postings here. These photographs were taken on July 10th in Petikko.

(Posting title is from Daffodil Song by Edward Dorn.)

If the art of loneliness is landscape

These photographs were taken in Petikko on July 9th, near Pitkäsuo landfill.

(Posting title is from the poem A Woman on the Dump by Debora Greger.)

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

And it makes me feel quite small

This morning I walked at Tremanskärr swamp and around lake Kurkijärvi. There are a lot of blueberries, and some cloudberries.

These photographs were taken on July 8th and 9th.

(Posting title is from the song Nine Million Bicycles by Katie Melua.)

Monday, July 20, 2015

How long film needs to be

Today I walked for 2 hours 40 minutes, exploring swamps southwest of lake Luukki. There is a small river going south, and it provided a lot of opportunities for taking photographs.

These photographs were taken on July 8th at Tytyri Mine Museum, which is 80 meters underground.

(Posting title is from the poem viewfinder by Kirby Knowlton.)