During the early summer of 2011 my life was at a point when change was the constant. I had just returned back to Helsinki from an internship in New York and was switching jobs from driving countless kilometers across Finland doing GPS mapping to digitalizing fields from aerial photos at a map-making company and ending up as a project manager at Helsinki’s regional development office. The greatest change however occurred among all this while I was visiting Helsinki’s amusement park Linnanmäki with two Dutch friends who were in town to visit me. Linnanmäki had introduced a new roller coaster that year and we were determined to try it out. And a sweet ride it was. Until I discovered my phone had fallen 50 meters from the top to its doom. This unfortunate event brought about the dawn of a new era: I took a technology leap and bought my first smartphone.
Now in early 2014, I’m sad to tell you that this dear friend of mine who served me faithfully through countless adventures has passed on. However, luckily and unlike last time I needed to upgrade my phone, the legacy of my mobile lives on within its memory card I was able to rescue.
I went through the photos on the card the other day and realized that many, if not most of them have remained fairly untouched all these years. So I figured that as the goal of being a ONE BSR blogger is to give insights about what life is like within the Baltic Sea Region, there is no better opportunity of illustrating this than by letting my old smartphone tell its life story.
I uploaded a publishable selection of the pictures on a Pinterest board -. Obviously there are more than these photos and I have not photographed everything and all the time. Nonetheless, I’m happy to provide you with a feeling of what life is like for at least one Finn.
To provide you with a roadmap, here’s a personal and themed selection of 10 great moments I and my phone have experienced together. In no particular order:
Photo 1: This photo got taken while I and fellow geography students were showing Helsinki’s sea fortress Suomenlinna to our Estonian colleagues. Excerpt from the theme “I heart Helsinki”.
Photo 2: As everywhere, certain traditions create their own rhythm for our lives. This moment was captured at night during Midsummer’s eve in the southern archipelago of Finland.
Photo 3: “Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!” said Albert Einstein. Among other places, I grew up in the Tampere region and am forever connected to there. The pics in the family theme represent some peeks to my experiences there as well as to other family-related “landscapes”. This specific map is on the floor of a shopping mall if I remember correctly.
Photo 4: Family is important and so are friends. My phone has captured many unforgettable moments I’ve had the privilege to share with my friends in Finland and beyond. This photo portrays the 6am outcome of a night full of travel planning to Greece back in the summer of 2012. We didn’t have paper to write on. The trip was executed in slightly altered format during the fall of 2013.
Photo 5: The beauty of life, I call it. Funny, inspiring and/or beautiful details you come across every now and then. In the smartphone era you are fortunately able to capture them for sharing. Here someone wrote “You already look good” on the spot of a missing mirror above the sink in a bar. Thanks!
Photo 6: I love sports in general but most of all ice hockey. This photo I took in late 2013 at an outdoor “winter classic” game in Tampere. It was freezing but fun!
Photo 7: Consuming culture is another hobby of mine. Among a number of things, I’m specifically interested in bar culture and nightlife. I’m always open for exploring new bars and concepts and simultaneously very picky about places I visit. This photo is from the Rock Café in Tallinn.
Photo 8: Studies. I completed an international master last year which took me to several countries and got me changing address every two to three months. New places, cultures and always large quantities of coffee.
Photo 9: Before, during and after my international studies my phone has faithfully followed me to new countries and cities. This is the most easternmost it ever went: Sighnagi, Georgia.
Photo 10: Besides exploring new countries, the phone has also accompanied me to domestic adventures. This photo is actually the first shot it ever took. I just bought it before leaving for camping in Repovesi National Park.
To review the full gallery of my phone’s life, click yourself to Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/timbal/the-story-of-my-phones-life/
Great idea for an article!