When I started my degree in photography, I always wanted to hear the words “three songs, no flash.” The main reason I started photography, is because I used to snap pictures with a crappy camera at concerts and believe it or not, they were somewhat decent. Surprisingly, during university I didn’t pursue this area of photography, so much had happened my life that I somehow found peace in artistic documentary photography. In 2011, I went to a festival named Pukkelpop, where a huge tropic storm caused huge damage. I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and between 2011 and 2016, if I could avoid going to a concert, I would.
Things changed and I started to feel better. In 2016, slowly gaining more confidence, I asked a Dutch magazine if they needed a photographer in Helsinki, Finland. Two other photographers already were active in the scene, so it soon turned out there was little room for me to shoot any shows, so I started Tuonela Magazine. I soon realized that if I want to be seen as a professional publication, I also need to dabble into the world of music journalism by publishing news, interviews, and writing reviews.
In my quest, I first started focusing on local bands and soon, I understood that the amount of gratitude I received from these smaller acts getting publicity was insurmountable. That’s why, Tuonela Magazine, up to this day, is a platform that still supports local bands.
It surely was fun to see how the website changed, from 5 visitors a day to over 1,000 visitors a day at most. Tuonela Magazine is now a respected online publication and is continuously growing. We have a team of 15 contributors.
If you want to check out some of my articles, you can find them here and of course, on Tuonela Magazine‘s website.