Urban Life ─ photo exhibition of life in eastern Uusimaa in the 1960’s and 1970’s
- 20.06.2025
- 00:00 - 00:00
The photographs of the outdoor exhibition are press pictures that were published in Borgåbladet during the 1960’s and 70’s. The photographs capture ordinary life, feelings, and happenings in the region. Most of the pictures are taken in Porvoo/Borgå, but pictures from Lapinjärvi/Lappträsk, Sipoo/Sibbo and Pernaja/Pernå, i.e. eastern Uusimaa where the paper’s readers are found, are also included.
In the 1950’s and the 1960’s, newspapers rarely published the names of their photographers. This is why it is exceedingly difficult to know the names of the photographers behind these exhibited pictures. In Borgåbladet 8.3.1969, the newspaper’s staff was introduced. This included the photographer, with both his name and portrait included.
Leif Wikström himself explains: “I was hired by Borgåbladet as a photographer and sports journalist on the 16th of September 1964. I was interested in sports and photography from the get-go. It was an ideal starting point.” Simultaneously it was revealed which photographs were taken by Wikström’s journalist colleague Birgit Lindroos.
The photography exhibition Kaupunkielämää ─ Stadsliv ─ Urban Life is a three-part exhibition that will be shown in Helsinki, Raseborg and Porvoo during the spring and summer of 2025. Each location will host a different exhibition. The images in the exhibitions have been selected from historical newspaper photos from Hufvudstadsbladet, Borgåbladet and Västra Nyland, which have been donated to the collections of the Press Photo Archive JOKA of the Finnish Heritage Agency.
The first part of the exhibition series shows photographs of the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet at the Lasipalatsin aukio square in Helsinki City Center, which will be open until June 15. The exhibition tells of the changing Helsinki 1930─1956. The exhibition in Raasepori with images from western Uusimaa in the 1950’s will be open 19.6.─31.7.2025.
The Borgå exhibition is organized in collaboration with Konstsamfundet foundation, the Press Photo Archive JOKA of the Finnish Heritage Agency, the town of Borå/Porvoo and the newspaper Borgåbladet.
The free outdoor exhibition is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
