LUX HELSINKI

On Sunday evening we went into town to see the LUX Helsinki light festival's outdoor art installations that have been spread out around down town Helsinki since Epiphany. It's a yearly happening arranged by the city and I've never paid it too much attention before, but this year the pieces were all rather impressive and I really wanted to make it (which is not always easy when you pretty much live where you work and if not then out in the countryside). 

Sunday was the last night of the event. And so there were, of course, thousands of people out in the same business. It was so crowded we did not manage to see all the pieces (you can't stay in line with a three year old for that long a time when it's shit cold outside), and some of the artwork perhaps got a little lost in the crowd. Well, I should have been out earlier than on prime time the last night I guess... It was very fine experience nonetheless; the lights ands sounds combined with the hard cold created a very special atmosphere of it's own, and it was well worth the freezing hours.

(I noticed every hobby photographer in Helsinki was out with camera and full gear, which is no wonder as it was indeed an event that offered a lot of chances for interesting pictures. I suppose I had plans too to "go out and take photos" but for me it got a little too cold and it was a little too stressy with the whole family along to be able to concentrate on photos so I was more like oh fuck it and just snapped some with freezing fingers as I went along.)

This cloud was made of light bulbs that you could turn on and off.

This could be from a desk by the window but it's not; it's just a three meter desktop lamp in a park.

The Old Church park -most often called the Plague Park, as victims of the plague were buried there the old days- was filled with lanters. The atmoshphere here was perhaps the most intense here, with smoke, colours and ambient sound.

Music was also played  as part of the installations by the Senate Square.

The Helsinki dome looked very impressive being projected in different patterns.

We climbed all the way to the top.


To get closer to the light, so to say. The theme of the installations on the dome were joy.  (I wouldn't perhaps label this particular print under that label as I find it scary as hell with the eerie dancers and sad thinkers, but then again that's just me.)


Family in shadows with polka dots.

Projecting. You can see how the air sort of shimmers of ice crystals when it's moist and cold at the same time. It is like everything is glittering.

Back down on the ground across the square, on of the oldest streets in the centre, ghosts fromt he past life of the city paraded the street.

It will be interesting to see how the city will be lit up the next year!