Signe Brander is known for her photographs of the changing city of Helsinki. Some of these photos are on display this autumn in an exhibition hosted by the Helsinki City Museum, as well as in a new publication. The exhibition is open from the 14 of October until 29th of August.

Signe Brander is loved and renowned for her photographs of Helsinki. Her pictures taken during the years 1907-1913 are among the most frequently used photographs in the Helsinki City Museum picture archives. The book published in 2004 on Signe and her photos is one of the most popular books ever published by the Helsinki City Museum.

The Hakasalmi Villa hosts a Signe Brander photo exhibition starting from the 14th of October. The exhibition presents a cross section of her work, both well-known city pictures and rare photographs of the changing cityscape of the early 20th century.

The photographs in the exhibition are reproduced in the latest digital techniques and in a size that guarantees the visitors a new experience. It is now possible to find details never discovered before in even the most famous pictures. The large picture size also emphasizes another significant characteristic of Signe Branders photography; the presence of people and their lives in the city. Brander never settled for taking pictures of buildings that were destined to be torn down or only the changing cityscape – she wanted to capture the day-to-day life in the city. This might be one of the reasons why her pictures have maintained their charm through the decades.

A new Signe Brander book will be published alongside with the exhibition. The book contains over 100 pictures taken by Signe Brander, also ones that are not included in the exhibition.

Visitors' comments:

"This was a wonderful exhibition as well as depicting the history of Helsinki in such an interesting and importan way, S.B's photos are beautiful works of art in their own right."

"I just loved it... I like photography, so I just came here to see some photography, but this exeeded my expectations."

"Very impressed, very suprised that there was such an exhibition. Good work."

"Very interesting theme and nice layout. The exhibition place is interesting as well."

Press photos of the exhibition Foto Signe Brander

History of the museum building