Image bank
from the authentic everyday
Image bank from the authentic everyday
Mission: Creating a unique image bank
July – December 2023
Erasmus+ is the EU's program to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. In Finland, the Erasmus+ program is run by the Department of Education. Their Finnish unit needed a photographer to update their image bank. They wanted the new photos to represent the authentic daily life in Erasmus+ program schools, and my experience in event and street photography fit the need well.
This type of project was new to our contacts at Erasmus+, and co-ordinating several photoshoots in different cities brought its own challenges. We decided to focus all communications and materials to a dedicated Teams channel. We made use of my own templates that helped keep the project's different parts and arrangements for different locations in order and easily found. The photoshoot locations were selected from schools and other educational organisations that have been part of an Erasmus+ project recently. We ended up visiting seven places around Finland to document their authentic everyday, which turned out to be more magical than mundane.
- reflect the program's focus, tone of voice and themes
- depict authentic situations and the everyday life of the international programs
- include individuals and groups of different sizes and show diversity and inclusion
- enable text or logos to be laid out over the images
Mission: Creating a unique image bank
July – December 2023
Erasmus+ is the EU's program to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. In Finland, the Erasmus+ program is run by the Department of Education. Their Finnish unit needed a photographer to update their image bank. They wanted the new photos to represent the authentic daily life in Erasmus+ program schools, and my experience in event and street photography fit the need well.
This type of project was new to our contacts at Erasmus+, and co-ordinating several photoshoots in different cities brought its own challenges. We decided to focus all communications and materials to a dedicated Teams channel. We made use of my own templates that helped keep the project's different parts and arrangements for different locations in order and easily found. The photoshoot locations were selected from schools and other educational organisations that have been part of an Erasmus+ project recently. We ended up visiting seven places around Finland to document their authentic everyday, which turned out to be more magical than mundane.
- reflect the program's focus, tone of voice and themes
- depict authentic situations and the everyday life of the international programs
- include individuals and groups of different sizes and show diversity and inclusion
- enable text or logos to be laid out over the images
RockCamp
RockCamp
The first shooting location was RockCamp, where Finnish heavy metal names gathered in the peaceful woods of Peräseinäjoki to teach and coach young music enthusiasts for a week in July.
The beautiful surroundings offered amazing settings, but even more amazing was the palpable passion the campers and instructors had for the music – and how warmly and wholeheartedly we were welcomed into the mix. Workshops, band rehearsals and casual hanging out framed the photo sessions and the atmosphere gave a strong and inspiring start to the whole project. If the camp had been a bit closer to Helsinki, we would have definitely returned for the concert at the end of the week.
Kummun koulu
Kummun koulu
After the summer break, schools started returning to their routines and in September we travelled to Outokumpu. The heart of the small town welcomed us with open arms and we got to meet almost all ages from preschool to high school.
The day kicked off with a rainy outing in the woods with the youngest ones. From there, our guide Rudi led us through the day's schedule to see music, arts, crafts and woodwork as well as more traditional classes, with the real connection between the pupils and teachers visible in every interaction. We would have been happy to stay several days!
TREDU
TREDU
First of three locations in Tampere was TREDU. With an efficient schedule, we managed to cover a wide range of classes from woodshop to construction, bakery, laboratory and electrical. The practical hands-on work and evident excitement for the work came across in each of them.
In the afternoon we found out the cafeteria sold (for very reasonable prices!) the goods we got to witness being made in the bakery, so in addition to another inspiring experience with the people of the school, we also went home with fresh, warm buns and sinfully delicious pastries...
Varala Sport Institute
Varala Sport Institute
Soon after TREDU we returned to Tampere to visit Varala Sport Institute. Our contact there had to fly into action first thing in the morning when our first stop of the day had moved to a different location, and with enviable efficiency for an early morning she replaced it with a session in the teachers' rooms. It quickly became apparent that people in Varala are used to the camera – the teachers were naturals and the same applied to the students as the day went on.
To avoid cliches, there were no gym classes on the agenda: instead, we focused on the students working towards a holistic understanding and management of athletes' wellbeing and development. We followed lectures, meditation sessions, individual working time and workshops of different sizes.
Loimaan evankelinen kansanopisto
Loimaan evankelinen kansanopisto
In Loimaa we met the most diverse bunch of students so far. Both our amazing contacts and the whole student community gave us a warm welcome, even with more camera shy people than usual in their midst. With language classes, discussion groups, arts and crafts and gym classes the day flew by, and the photos captured their genuine joy and friendship. As the day went on, a lot of the shy students also warmed up to the photographer, finding that it can be easy and fun when you don't have to pose, just be yourself.
One of our contacts also arranged one of the most memorable moments of the whole project – after hearing of Negin's endless love for chickens, she whisked us on a surprise visit to her house at lunchtime to meet her hen. Their loving embrace was captured in Jimmy's instagram reel.
Hatanpään lukio
Hatanpään lukio
The project led us to Tampere one more time with Hatanpää high school. The school was on their last year in Hatanpää, and the upcoming move to a new building across town would also bring with it a new name.
Our visit happened to fall on the same day with some student organisation events, which limited our access to some areas of the school. Despite this, we joined several classes and study groups as well as the teachers' lounge, so the limitations didn't slow us down except for not seeing the cafeteria.
Haaga-Helia AMK
Haaga-Helia AMK
Our last photoshoot was in December in Helsinki, feeling right at home. The originally planned university fell through with our schedule, and Haaga-Helia stepped up to be our higher education location with short notice. The schedule and the format of a lot of their classes and courses meant we had to resort to some light staging for the first time. Our models were a group of students and teachers who were able to devote the time to working with us on the day.
The relaxed and natural interactions between our models made our worries about staging disappear. We got to follow an impromptu lesson on AI programming, several group discussions and a lot of independent study. In the library, we almost forgot the models were there just for us!
From raw material to finalised image bank
All of our incredible contact people, teachers and students made every photoshoot a great experience. We ended up with a lot of raw material, and after pruning misfires and oddities we uploaded them into themed galleries under a password protected client page. Our contacts in the Department of Education and some of the image bank's future users picked their favourites, taking care to select a wide range of photos that fulfilled the goals set for the image bank.
Our original contract stated we'd provide at least 20 final images from each location, making a total of 140. But when selection started, it quickly became apparent that there were a lot more photos that fit the bill! We discussed our numbers during the editing phase, and the final total was 418 images that the Erasmus+ content creators can use to bring to life their articles, social media posts, brochures and much more. We delivered these as print ready full resolution files as well as lighter, online-optimised versions.
In addition to the image bank photos, the Erasmus+ team dediced to gift each of the photoshoot locations with a smaller selection of photos for their own use. There were 110 photos in total delivered to the location contacts in the beginning of 2024.
12
travel days2 951
kilometres30+
buns and donuts418
final imagesFrom raw material to finalised image bank
All of our incredible contact people, teachers and students made every photoshoot a great experience. We ended up with a lot of raw material, and after pruning misfires and oddities we uploaded them into themed galleries under a password protected client page. Our contacts in the Department of Education and some of the image bank's future users picked their favourites, taking care to select a wide range of photos that fulfilled the goals set for the image bank.
Our original contract stated we'd provide at least 20 final images from each location, making a total of 140. But when selection started, it quickly became apparent that there were a lot more photos that fit the bill! We discussed our numbers during the editing phase, and the final total was 418 images that the Erasmus+ content creators can use to bring to life their articles, social media posts, brochures and much more. We delivered these as print ready full resolution files as well as lighter, online-optimised versions.
In addition to the image bank photos, the Erasmus+ team dediced to gift each of the photoshoot locations with a smaller selection of photos for their own use. There were 110 photos in total delivered to the location contacts in the beginning of 2024.
12
travel days2 951
kilometres30+
buns and donuts418
final imagesImage bank
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