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N E W S L E T T E R
(Why did you receive this? See bottom.)
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# 1 3 – T O D A Y
& Y E S T E R D A Y
I n t h i s n e w s l e t t e r :
• F i n n s & A l c o h o l
• W i n t e r O l y m p i c s A p p r o a c h i n g
• O n G r a s s r o o t s O r g s I n I t a l y ( L e o n c a v a l l o )
• M e m o r i e s o f A u n t i e L a u r a
• S a d S t a t i s t i c s ( a g a i n )
(see previous newsletters here)
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F I N L A N D A N D A L C O H O L
In June, I traveled to Tuscany to take photos of Finnish musician and cuisine professional Jaakko Luomanen for his interview on Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish; paywall), in which he discusses the differences between drinking cultures of Finland and Italy, as well as alcohol abuse (in Finland). As someone who grew up in Finland I'd have a LOT to say about alcoholism, but this kind of newsletter is not the right forum for it, so I'll just say one thing. Sometimes, when speaking with people outside Finland, the fact of Finns drinking a lot comes up, and the most common explanation people tend to give to it is "well it's so cold in Finland so people drink a lot", and allow me to clarify, once and for all: NO THAT IS NOT THE REASON. It's a LOT more complicated than that, and the Finnish society as a whole has a big role in it.
In any case, the article clearly was something that people can relate to in Finland; when it was first published online, it was soon clicked tens of thousands of times, and for a period of time it climbed to be the most read article on that morning, AND people also stayed on the article, reading it through.
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   M I L A N O - C O R T I N A 2 0 2 6
Next February, the XXV Winter Olympic Games will kick off (and XIV Winter Paralympic games in March) in Northern Italy. I definitely don't have the capability to compete against the very best sports photographers in the world, but I've started to gather some imagery related to the upcoming games.
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 S E L F - R U N
C O M M U N I T Y C E N T E R S
Those with a bit deeper knowledge about Italian society are familiar with self-run community centers (centri sociali), and one of last week's major national news was that arguably the most famous such center in Italy, Leoncavallo, was taken over by police.
When I moved to Italy in 2002, these centers were a completely new thing to me. Little by little, I learned more about them (I wrote about it in my blog few years ago), and between 2008-2011/13 I photographed somewhat consistently the activity of Leoncavallo (photos above, and more here).
The authorities taking over Leoncavallo became national news for several reasons. Among them the fact that over the years "Leo"—the activity of which can definitely be considered left-leaning—had kind of become one of the symbols in the political fight between Italian right and left; e.g. right-wing politician Matteo Salvini (Lega), currently Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, promptly praised the operation even though it has nothing to do with his ministry. Ironically, Salvini himself used to be one of Leoncavallo's habitués in the past.
But it isn't just about politics, or political activism. Centers like Leoncavallo have also a role in cities' culture and arts offering, especially for emerging and underground artists. Indeed, many Italian musicians and other artists expressed their disappointment for authorities' decision, including two successful Italian rappers who started their careers also on Leoncavallo's stages.
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M E M O R I E S O F
A U N T I E L A U R A
Years ago, when I was one of the official photographers at Torino Film Festival, I was always happy to photograph less known filmmakers. First, because it's usually a lot easier to photograph them compared to the super famous ones, and secondly, you never know what they will become; I always thought, "who knows, perhaps I'm photographing the new Francis Ford Coppola" (I also got the chance to photograph the current Francis Ford Coppola, by the way).
Well, here's a young director Sean Baker in 2008 at the 26th TFF directed by Nanni Moretti; that year in Turin, Baker was awarded Special Mention of the Jury for his film "Prince of Broadway". In March 2025, Baker's new film Anora won several Oscars, including those for Directing, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay.
I hadn't paid much attention to the Oscars, but when I saw Baker's photos in the morning after the awards ceremony I thought, "hmm this guy looks familiar, lemme check my archive," and sure enough, he had been at the Torino Film Festival.
And yes, independent films are worth supporting.
(The people in the background are Alexey German Jr., Jonathan Lethem, and Jerzy Stuhr.)
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 G E N D E R S I N
P H O T O J O U R N A L I S M
I N 2 0 2 4
As every year since 2017, Women Photograph have compiled statistics on gender representation in photojournalism, using photographers' details from the A1 bylines of eight major newspapers.
While there's some improvement in the percentage of women and nonbinary photographers (2017: 13.4% — 2024: 22.1%), the total amount is still less than a quarter, and far from 50/50 parity.
You can view more data here (and download the data on a PDF).
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Let's be in touch soon! A presto! Ollaan pian yhteydessä!
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On various occasions, I've seen that photo editors wish to be included among the recipients of newsletters from photographers about their work developments and whereabouts, so if you don't remember subscribing to this newletter, I've probably taken the liberty of doing so for you. Naturally, you can unsubscribe right away by clicking on the link below — and I apologize for the inconvenience! |
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