N E W S L E T T E R

(Why did you receive this? See bottom.)

# 0 9  H E L L O  A G A I N

t o p i c s  o f  t h i s  n e w s l e t t e r :

• C a p r i

• H e l s i n k i

• F i n l a n d  G o e s  F u l l  N A T O

• S i g h t s  o f  S u m m e r  –  T h e  L u u p e

(see previous newsletters here)

C A P R I ,  I T A L Y

I had the chance to spend some time in Capri, so I of course tried to make the most of it photographically too. I believe I walked all the trails and walking routes at least once—but, frankly, it doesn't take so much time to walk them all. A selection can be found here, and more photos can be found here. (E.g. some of photos of the first selection have "variants", like horizontal + vertical, different day/light etc.)
A side note: the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting will be held in 2024 in Capri.

H E L S I N K I

In July, I was in Helsinki for a week for family reasons, and even though I've heard some complaints of this year's summer up there weatherwise, I apparently was lucky and had the chance to enjoy sun and warmth (and the usual Helsinki wind). Oh and that seagull statue photo—the main market in front of the presidential palace has a real problem with the birds; they are becoming more and more insolent, e.g. they simply snatch the ice cream from people's hands. (A Finnish tabloid performed a test, checking how long they would manage to keep their ice creams. The result: VERY little time)

F I N L A N D  G O E S  F U L L  N A T O

While I was in Helsinki in July, also Joe Biden was in town for a couple of days, on his way back from the NATO summit in Vilnius; many Finns were happy to see also this kind of "validation" for the recent membership admission—an admission long awaited for many. I instead can admit it right away: I would've actually preferred that Finland stay out of NATO; good relationship yes, but membership no. At a dinner some time ago, I asked a former ambassador his view on Finland and Sweden joining NATO, and he defined it an "unavoidable choice"—I honestly can't say that I agree. That said, I know perfectly well that the vast majority of Finns wanted it, and I of course respect that (and I sort of understand where they're coming from, too—however, Putin should've been stopped a long long time ago, but you know, business).
I can admit another thing too: when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, being a Finn, it scared the hell out of me too, even though I live in Italy; during the days I kept reading the news, and war was in my dreams for several nights. I still find myself wondering every once in a while, what if it had been Finland? What if Finland's next? As I wrote in my blog back then, I was extremely happy that the current President of Finland Sauli Niinistö is so calm, with no need to start flexing in front of Putin—the embodiment of Finnish rationality. In 2024, Mr Niinistö will end his second 6 year term (the constitution allows 2 consequent 6 year terms), and I truly hope that his successor will adopt the same attitude and approach. The photo of Mr Niinistö above is from 2012, his first year as president, when he was about to receive the then Italian prime minister Mario Monti in his official residence in Helsinki, Mäntyniemi.

" S I G H T S  O F  S U M M E R "  2 0 2 3

And one last hurrah for summer: I had the pleasure to be included The Luupe's this year's "Sights of Summer" selection with a photo I took in Helsinki in July. All the lovely summery shots can be seen here!

Let's be in touch soon! A presto! Ollaan pian yhteydessä!

On various occasions, I've seen that photo editors wish to be included among the recipients of newsletters from photographers about their work developments and whereabouts, so if you don't remember subscribing to this newletter, I've probably taken the liberty of doing so for you. Naturally, you can unsubscribe right away by clicking on the link below — and I apologize for the inconvenience!