🏙️ Modern Helsinki: libraries, museums and futuristic facades

When you walk into modern Helsinki, it's like the world has changed.

The Oodi tree glows softly, Kiasma draws spirals, the domes of Amos Rex resemble lunar relief, and the glass around you reflects the sky, the city, and random passers-by.

And inside you, that teenage excitement kicks in — to capture everything as it feels, rather than how it should be according to the textbook.

Helsinki's great for this: it's got honest architecture that doesn't try too hard, loads of space, light and clean lines that are just begging to be snapped.

Oodi: a place where trees flow like waves

A frontal shot is the most boring thing you can do here.

Oodi reveals itself when you stand slightly to the side and let the lines of the façade run diagonally. This creates movement, depth and that feeling of a “city of the future that respects trees”.

What to photograph:

• the diagonal of the façade from the corner to the sky — the “wave” of wood;
• the bridges and ramps on the second level — pure modern minimalism;
• the reading area with panoramic windows — people as small accents in a large form.

📦 Sticker: Oodi quick settings

Amos Rex: lunar domes in the city centre

Amos Rex is a moment when the city centre suddenly turns into an alien landscape.

The domes work as a backdrop, as the main character, and as ready-made geometry.

Working techniques:

• stand at the edge of the dome and shoot through the top towards the sky to get “lunar hills”;
• add one person to the frame to immediately make the scale obvious;
• try a low angle to make the dome go beyond the usual perspective.

🔍 Mini table of angles for Amos Rex

Kiasma: Curved Lines and Poetic Geometry

Kiasma is not a ‘museum where you can't make noise,’ but a living organism made of lines and light.

There, you want to walk in circles and watch how ramps, railings, and people come together in new compositions each time.

Ideas for photos:

• shoot the ramp from above when one person is walking on it — pure dynamics;
• use reflections in the glass to get a ‘double’ city;
• try lowering the shooting point slightly — the space will become deeper and more complex.

The Central Library, the train station and the space between

Modern Helsinki is not only about individual icons, but also the voids between them:

passages, staircases, terraces, glass galleries, quiet corners near large facades.

If you want shots ‘like in a Scandinavian film’, look for:

• simple concrete planes with a single shadow;
• diagonally sloping railings;
• glass walls reflecting clouds and people;
• wooden benches and steps as a soft background.

🌬️ Sticker: Minimalistic urban shots

A micro-tour of modern Helsinki (1–1.5 hours)

If you only have a couple of hours and a camera (or phone, it doesn't matter), you can put together a mini-tour:

1. Amos Rex — domes, people against the backdrop of the ‘moon’, the play of shadows.
2. Lasipalatsi — glass, neon, reflections.
3. Oodi — diagonal facade, bridges, reading areas.
4. Kiasma — ramps and railings, the dynamics of people.
5. Central Station and the surrounding squares — glass, light, trams, lines.

In cloudy weather, this route is even easier: soft light emphasises form rather than contrast.

Helsinki isn't obsessed with 'endless futurism' – it's all about keeping things honest.

Here, wood doesn't try to be something it's not, concrete doesn't try to be marble, and glass shows what's around it – clouds, buildings, people.

Your shots don't have to be 'picture-perfect'.

Let them be alive: slightly askew, with a passer-by who suddenly popped into the frame, with rain that smudged the reflections. It's in these little things that you get a true sense of the city.

If you have already photographed Helsinki, tell us which places caught your attention the most: Oodi, Amos Rex, Kiasma, the railway station, courtyards, staircases, or metro stations?

• Write your favourite shot and location in the comments so we can add them to future routes and collections.
• Ask questions: about shooting in the rain, interior shots, cameras and lenses — we'll cover these topics in separate articles.
• If you want, attach a photo: real-life examples always help others understand ‘what you can actually photograph in Finland’.

The more feedback we get, the more accurate the next guides will be — about wooden neighbourhoods, lighthouses, embankments and that very Finnish minimalism.