Sirpa Suomalainen / Frim Fram Quartet
A few day earlier to this shot, I had seen Frim Fram Quartet onstage in Kallio park, another neighbourhood in Helsinki. The music was great, but it was rather crowded and the stage was too high up to get any decent closeup from below.
However, I was given a second chance when the band performed downtown on the familiar Espan Lava. It's less crowded and it's easy to approach the musicians once they leave the stage.
After their 45 minute concert on Espan Lava, I approached the talented saxophonist Sirpa Suomalainen for a portrait. She was so kind and went back onstage to bring down her saxophone on my request. We then had a nice conversation about her music life.
Sirpa composes the music while Juki writes the lyrics.
I also found out that she and Juki Välipakka - Vocals/ guitar/ harp/stompbox - have been married for 10 years and have a 7 y/o son. Sirpa's mother was watching her grandson while Sirpa and Juki were onstage. I got to meet them, too.
After sending the photos to them they thanked me and Juki sent a friend request on Facebook. They have since used my photos on their Facebook page.
This is my 280th submission to The Human Family group.
Visit the group here to see more portraits and stories: www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily.
Sirpa Suomalainen / Frim Fram Quartet
A few day earlier to this shot, I had seen Frim Fram Quartet onstage in Kallio park, another neighbourhood in Helsinki. The music was great, but it was rather crowded and the stage was too high up to get any decent closeup from below.
However, I was given a second chance when the band performed downtown on the familiar Espan Lava. It's less crowded and it's easy to approach the musicians once they leave the stage.
After their 45 minute concert on Espan Lava, I approached the talented saxophonist Sirpa Suomalainen for a portrait. She was so kind and went back onstage to bring down her saxophone on my request. We then had a nice conversation about her music life.
Sirpa composes the music while Juki writes the lyrics.
I also found out that she and Juki Välipakka - Vocals/ guitar/ harp/stompbox - have been married for 10 years and have a 7 y/o son. Sirpa's mother was watching her grandson while Sirpa and Juki were onstage. I got to meet them, too.
After sending the photos to them they thanked me and Juki sent a friend request on Facebook. They have since used my photos on their Facebook page.
This is my 280th submission to The Human Family group.
Visit the group here to see more portraits and stories: www.flickr.com/groups/thehumanfamily.