Touko Sipiläinen

Moving to a new address!

2010-08-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

I have opened a portfolio website on www.toukosipilainen.com and this blog will also move under the same address.

I am currently travelling in East Africa and will be posting photos from the trip on the blog.

London put up a ‘world class’ sunset today..

2010-05-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

2010-05-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

The exam time has kept me busy & updates sparse. Here's, however, a photo I snapped while on a break from library.

a trip to suffolk

2010-04-04T03:31:00.000-07:00

Himalayas & Jonny, part II

2010-03-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

It wasn't quite that snowy & cold 1700m below.

Annapurna 3700m

2010-03-11T04:59:00.000-08:00

It was cold inside and outside a half day's walk away from the Annapurna base camp.

Rainy Weather in Dar es Salaam

2010-02-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

Rainy Weather in Dar es Salaam from Touko Sipiläinen on Vimeo.

Any above-moderate rain seems to turn Dar es Salaam's streets into padding pools. One can imagine my surprise when I first witnessed this lack of drainage. Later on, however, it turned out that it seems to be a relatively normal part of the everyday living in the city. Seeing the hostel patio having turned into a jetty was quite a cool sight anyway.

Dog Racing in Brighton

2010-02-22T05:56:00.000-08:00

Dog Race I from Touko Sipiläinen on Vimeo.

Dog Race II from Touko Sipiläinen on Vimeo.

Went to Brighton last weekend, and what could've been a more obvious way to spend the saturday evening than go see dog racing..!

It was my first time ever in a dog (or any animal) race and I was understandably quite excited. The track scene was quite impressive with families having their Saturday roasts and young people geared up for a night out.

And then there was the gambling bit. I did some modest betting, and surprisingly ended up on a profit with a tiny margin. Thanks Strong Link and the other dog whose name I've regrettably now forgotten.

The boys on the first video were great and will probably become accomplished gamblers once they grow up a bit.

2010-02-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Got quite excited about this video and wanted to share it.

via Yimmys Yayo

2010-02-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

Rallying in Nepal

2010-01-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken just before the 2008 elections in Nepal. Political rallies were ubiquitous and mainly peaceful, like this one. The ralliers of this photo were about to receive a reason to celebrate as the Communist party won the elections a couple of days later.

I shot this from a window of a moving bus with a high frame rate and subsequently merged the frames into this photo.

2010-01-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

2010-01-18T13:54:00.000-08:00

I've found the idea of ‘moving photographs’ interesting for a while now. This one is shot with a hand-held pocket camera in Zanzibar last spring. The technique used brings a level of sketchiness to the video(photo?), but I find it beautiful still.

fishing.

2010-01-18T12:57:00.000-08:00

visited & enjoyed Barcelona

2009-11-24T05:03:00.000-08:00

On a hill, it hadn't rained enough here

2009-05-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

Shot these today.

2009-05-19T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been taking photos of tourists taking photos for a couple of years now. These ones are more or less a part of the same slowly evolving series.

Zanzibari Sea

2009-04-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

Mount Meru 1 am

2009-04-11T04:10:00.000-07:00

Above and Among the Clouds

2009-04-11T03:59:00.000-07:00

First day in Tanzania

2009-03-27T01:55:00.000-07:00

Guantanamo ja tunnustukset

2009-03-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Kiinnostavaa miten USA:n uskottavuus ihmisoikeuksiin sitoutuneena toimijana on ‘terrorismin vastaisen’ sodan aikana vajonnut tasolle, jolla pata-arvokonservatiiviset HS.fi:n kommentoijatkaan eivät enää usko Guantanamossa vangeista kidutettuja tunnustuksia.

Se että näin kokonaisvaltaisesti uskottavuutensa menettänyt valtio kykenee normaaliin kansainväliseen toimintaan taas kertoo ikävää kieltä siitä kuinka heikosti ihmisoikeudet ovat kansainväliseen järjestelmään juurtuneet. Ihmisoikeuksiin vedotaan kun se sopii syvempään agendaan, kuten ulkoministeri Clinton ilmaisi: "But our pressing on those issues [human rights] can't interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crises." Valtion legitimiteetin liittäminen ihmisoikeuksien kunnioittamiseen on tällä hetkellä poliittinen instrumentti, ei universaali periaate.