I started to look for other pictures of men holding up buildings and ended up seeing a lot of “geometry”-related pics. I guess it’s really one of the main themes people take pictures of. It’s a visual pleasure to see swirls and cubes and circles and squares all around us. And I think the author’s own comment is very accurate: “Ever since I bought the wide angle lens last December I’ve wanted to photograph this view. Now I did it. And I think that almost everyone else who has the same hobby carrying camera around the city and who lives near this place has done it as well ” I think it’s sort of similar to our “geometry” pictures also in this sense of everyone-who-sees-this-and-has-a-camera-wants-to-take-a-picture.

Helsinki hides some birds inside shops too. (These guys bring back fond childhood memories…)

Now, my original idea of taking my camera for a walk in Helsinki wasn’t to create a new story-line. That happened all by itself. I intended to explore the Helsinki-side of the story about urbanized birds. I have to be honest, there are actual live birds living here too, honestly. You can see them everywhere in the summer, you can hear them everywhere now. But I was more interested in Helsinki’s birds who weren’t so… alive. And as I was walking through a park (many live birds there), I happened to come across this closed stall.

It’s an advertisement for a beer I’ve never heard of. Really, never.

Erottajankatu, originally uploaded by ele373.

And to top it off, on my short walk around Helsinki I managed to find a new story of men holding up buildings. Very Helsinki-esque, I guess. Now, for some questions. The feminist/egalitarian question: where are the women holding up buildings? Location-based question: IS this indeed a Helsinki-specific thing (I guess the time was right for this kind of thing when Helsinki was built)? Curiosity-driven question: where are the men holding up buildings in Tallinn (or other areas, for that matter)?

I couldn’t figure out how to use a pic I randomly found on Brightkite, so I’ll just link it here: another take on men holding up buildings

Aleksanterinkatu 40, originally uploaded by ele373.

So here are more faces holding up walls and buildings. Now, I’m rather curious and haven’t been able to clarify things for myself. I understand that Kullervo is a tragic mythological hero and all, but I’m not quite sure why he would be set in stone in the middle of a busy shopping street (I realize that it wasn’t a busy shopping street when the building was built, although this addition seems rather detachable) and with two faces. What’s the story here, I wonder? Usually monuments have some story to them but my googling skills weren’t up to the challenge of finding it out.

Korkeavuorenkatu 21, originally uploaded by ele373.

I probably wouldn’t have even noticed the men holding up the building if Ulrika hadn’t taken a picture of that sign urging us to philosophize. These four men all have a certain Rodin’s thinker thing going on. They seem rather tired of holding up the building (they’ve probably been doing it for quite some time now too). And after taking this picture, I developed a radar for men holding up houses… It’s funny how it works, how you notice certain elements after associating them with something and after the fact you notice them everywhere.

This picture has been in the back of my mind ever since I saw it. I haven’t actually bothered to go and look for the sign itself (especially since there already IS a good picture of it) but the idea behind the sign appeals to me (and after all, I do like to philosophize, it’s good to know there’s a sign regulating that activity too). Makes you think, doesn’t it? About how regulations rule us. Or on a more positive note: how something like philosophy hasn’t skipped the mind of the person who made this sign.

Step by step

Step by step…

Luigetiik, originally uploaded by ele373.

About those birds that are escaping urban life… Well, these birds most certainly feed off of people and urban life too.

Anyways, I sent my brother on a mission today. He was going for a walk with his friends and my camera anyway, so I asked him to take some pictures of birds, wondering what he’d come back with. I especially like this particular picture, because it’s just so dynamic. Something you might not hear that often said about ducks.

And ducks… they are very urbanised. Just the other day I passed Löwenruth’s park in Mustamäe where we went to feed ducks when I was a small girl and was surprised at how many were there, lazing around, walking their slow duck-walk.