Young couples in love celebrating Labour Day, daredevils in a twirling carousel, market vendors behind their stands…
In 1968 photographer Claire Aho participated in a Nordic photography exhibition in Kiel, Germany with her images of Helsinki.
These photographs, which feature surprising compositions and offer fascinating depictions of the era, are now being exhibited in Finland for the first time. Claire Aho, born 1925 in Helsinki and now living in Stockholm, is the grand old lady of Finnish photography with a huge amount of portraits, posters, fashion plates and artistic photos.
She is also a pioneer of Finnish documentary film like her father Heikki Aho and her uncle Björn Soldan. Claire Aho is the granddaughter of author Juhani Aho (earlier Brofeldt) and Venny Soldan-Brofeldt (1863– 1945), one of the leading women painters of her time. Juhani Aho (1861–1921) was a journalist and the first Finnish professional writer, best known Finnish author in Scandinavia in his own time, who specialized in short stories called ”lastuja” (splinters).
Claire Aho’s Helsinki in 1968
Although Juhani Aho chose his subjects from Finnish folk life, his works were far from provincial. They reflected consciously modern literary movements, especially realism, which is seen in his first novel Rautatie (Railway) from the year 1884. Aho also translated to Finnish such writers as Kielland, Daudet, Lagerlöf, Hugo, and Maeterlinck. Exhibition in the Virka Gallery 4.6. 5.9. Helsinki City Hall lobby, Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13 Opening hours: Mon–Fri 9–19 Sat–Sun 11–17.
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