How it all started

As with most peoples passions in life, mine begins with a simple curiosity. I first picked up a camera at the age of 15-years old. This was the time before smart phones; all I had was my dad’s automatic film camera. But that was enough to light a flame in my mind. 

Passionate to share my new found love, I went over to my friend’s house. I wanted to ask his dad for some advice; he had owned a photography shop at one point in time, and I knew he’d be the best to ask. I recall him telling me if I was interested in learning about photography, that for starters, I’d need a new camera. Passing me a manual camera, he taught me the meaning of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. I was off, taking pictures of everything. I vividly remember one of my first pictures of an apple hanging off the tree in my garden. Just like that, I’d discovered my love for photography. 

As a naturally curious individual, I was seriously interested in developing my photography skills, not only with my film camera but with digital SLRs. At the time, we were in high school, as if I wasn’t bugging my friends to borrow their cameras, I’d be borrowing one from the art department for the weekend. It certainly helped that our art teacher was a free-spirit; if anything, she actively encouraged us to drive our creative freedom. How did I express this creativity, you may ask? Blessed with a local ski resort, we’d take these cameras straight to the slopes. Spending hours practising various angles, learning how to play with the lighting and getting the perfect shots of the skills we’d been teaching ourselves. 

Fast-forward to my 16th Birthday; I was beyond myself with excitement to find a Canon EOS 350D from my mum and dad. I finally had a camera of my own, and it never left my side. Wherever I went, the camera came along for the journey, from the skatepark, parties, school - everywhere. I was constantly practising and perfecting my hobby, taking every opportunity to grow my photography skills.

Around this time, I found myself heavily inspiring my style off snowboarding and skateboarding magazines; I just admired their technique. It wasn’t long after that I landed my first ever paid job, getting asked to take some images for a local snowboarding competition. From this point onwards, my career took off. I built my experience from various events around Finland before I’d even set-up as my own company. So, by 2009 I finally took the plunge and founded a freelance photography company at the age of 20. Years later, it’s finally my full-time career.