May Day Masquerade
Merja Salo, Helsinki, 1980’s, gelatin silver print. Finnish Museum of Photography. Print bought in 1985 as part of the exhibition “26 photographers”.
Carnivals are rare in Finland, but on May Day people go out into the streets and squares in droves. Dressing up and wearing masks is all part of the fun.
“There is something fascinating about masks: what role or guise does the person want to take on, what do they want that moment to reveal? The disparity between the mask and the rest of their persona is interesting, and something that they themselves may not realize – it only comes out in the picture.” - Merja Salo (b. 1953), 2010
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More on the subject
Street choreography
Collection pick
For Jouko Leskelä (b. 1956), street photography means snapping pictures freely and staying alert while he is in the street. This picture was taken while the photographer was walking down the Esplanade in downtown Helsinki.
Peeping Tom
Collection pick
In June 1970, Apu magazine published an article illustrated by Kalle Kultala (1924–1991). Kultala captured a Peeping Tom a hundred metres away, sneaking around behind the fence at the Seurasaari nudist beach. At the same time, he unashamedly took snapshots of the naked women on the beach.
The Face of Ambition
Collection pick
Press photographer Kalle Kultala was at his best when working among politicians and other wielders of power.
The Museum's collections
Collections
The collections of the Finnish Museum of Photography include more than two million photographs. The collections focus on 20th-century Finnish photography, and are made up of both selected works by photographers and images from extensive photographic archives. The museum's collection of objects includes thousands of photography-related artefacts. The museum also has a paper archive and a photographic library.