Category Finalist 2007: playground

Pasi Salminen

I got started in photography by shooting skateboarding. For the first eight years, I shot skateboarding in my hometown of Ulvila, Finland. After I finished school, I moved to Helsinki to get a job. For three years, I was an IT specialist — you know, coding programs and being a real nerd. From that nerd job I got enough money to buy some nice camera equipment and almost immediately started to shoot snowboarding. Three years was enough to be a nerd so I started to work with a skate and snowboard distributor in Finland. With that job, I got more time to shoot. After shooting two to three years almost full time, I decided to take charge and began to be a full-time photographer. In the winter, I make my living from shooting snowboarding and the rest of the year I shoot skateboarding, different events, products, people, and anything else to get money to live.

I take my job seriously. When it comes to photos, I am a perfectionist. I’ll sometimes use six to eight flashes to fill light where I want that light to be. From looking at my photos, you can easily see that I like to play with flashes.

Nationality: Finland