A Glimpse of Helsinki – Volker von Bonin’s photos

Opening in October, the Volker von Bonin photo exhibition will give visitors a rare glimpse of Helsinki as it was decades ago. The retrospective exhibition is compiled from the Helsinki City Museum’s collections, featuring both the photographer’s most iconic photos of Helsinki and some of his less frequently seen shots. Von Bonin is known as a humanist photographer whose photos highlight the everyday moments of ordinary people and their urban environment. He also captured plenty of Helsinki’s old buildings and landscapes for prosperity.

Volker von Bonin (1924–2006) was a skilled photographer of the city of Helsinki, whose photos are known today far better than the man himself. Von Bonin settled permanently in Finland in the 1950s, having been hired as a photographer by the printing house Tilgmann Oy. In addition to his work duties, he captured Helsinki and its people in photos. Over the course of a few decades, von Bonin took thousands of photos and created some twenty photo books focusing on Finland and its capital city.

In association with the opening of the exhibition, Helsinki City Museum and Parvs Publishing Ltd will collaboratively publish a biography of Volker von Bonin featuring his photos. The book was written by <span class="ui-provider ed bwh bwi bwj bwk bwl bwm bwn bwo bwp bwq bwr bws bwt bwu bwv bww bwx bwy bwz bxa bxb bxc bxd bxe bxf bxg bxh bxi bxj bxk bxl bxm bxn bxo" dir="ltr">photo historian </span>Yki Hytönen. The exhibition is produced by Helsinki City Museum's Chief Curator Tuomas Myrén and designed by Osmo Leppälä.

A Glimpse of Helsinki – Volker von Bonin’s photos 6 October 2023 – 25 August 2024 Villa Hakasalmi Mannerheimintie 13b

<h6>Photos: Volker von Bonin / Helsinki City Museum</h6><h6>The express train and passengers at Helsinki Central Railway Station, 1965.</h6><h6>Children playing on a climbing frame in Tervasaari, 1969.</h6><h6>Young people in front of Helsinki Cathedral, 1963.</h6><h6>Carpet washing pier at the Vantaanjoki shore near the Pukinmäki bridge, 1952.</h6><h6>Man watches the traffic on Mannerheimintie during the Helsinki Olympics, 1952.</h6>