Helsinki based Tommi Viitala (born in 1975) started active street photography over five years ago. However, the camera is not a new device for him because he has been filming more and less actively throughout his life, starting with film cameras from the 90s. Since the camera is almost always with Tommi, he also goes around the world filming streets, most recently in Budapest and Barcelona. Tommi's photos have been published in various street photography publications and exhibitions.
Tommi especially loves street photography because it's a unique and captivating art form that captures the essence of everyday life in public spaces. It freezes moments in time, revealing the beauty (and the truth) of real city life. What attracts Tommi about street photography is that even if ten different photographers take a picture of the same fleeting moment, each picture is different, i.e. the look of its taker. In addition, the different styles of street photography, such as juxtaposition, geometry and the play of light and shadows inspire Tommi to the streets again and again.
I love street photography for it's focus on capturing spontaneous everyday moments in public places, documenting unscripted scenes that offer a different view into the human world. I love the surprises that everyday comes, there's always something new coming — just around from the corner. I'm a storyteller by heart, so I wanna create different worlds that we usually miss in our everyday life.