FAQ

Practical information for editors, publications, NGOs and organisations commissioning photography, video, talks or training in Helsinki, elsewhere in Finland or internationally.

Assignments and availability

  • I am based in Helsinki, Finland, and take assignments throughout Finland and internationally. Short-notice coverage is often possible in Helsinki and southern Finland; elsewhere, availability depends on travel, access and the scale of the assignment.

  • Yes. I work with Finnish and international publications and can handle local logistics, location research, access and detailed English-language captions. I can work alongside your reporter or producer, or help identify suitable local collaborators where needed.

  • My work includes news photography, editorial portraiture, magazine features, documentary commissions, humanitarian and NGO photography, and longer visual stories.

    The common thread is real people in real situations. Even when a portrait is arranged, I prefer environments and details that tell us something rather than functioning as expensive wallpaper.

    Examples can be found in Selected Work and Photo Series & Projects.

  • Yes. I move between fast news assignments, where access, accuracy and transmission matter immediately, and longer projects that require reporting, repeated visits and time with the people involved.

  • Yes. I have extensive experience working in conflict, displacement, disaster and other sensitive contexts, including assignments in Ukraine, Somalia, Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan.

    I maintain relevant hostile-environment, security and first-aid training. Each assignment is still assessed individually: experience is useful, but it is not a substitute for a realistic security plan.

  • Yes. I photograph humanitarian response, education, displacement, livelihoods, protection and other development and human-rights issues.

    I understand the practical requirements of this work: safeguarding, informed consent, risk assessment, accurate captions and metadata, and producing a varied set of images that can serve editorial, fundraising and institutional communications without reducing people to symbols of suffering.

  • Yes. I photograph politicians, artists, researchers, campaigners, public figures and people whose experiences are central to a story.

    Whenever possible, I prefer to photograph people in a meaningful environment rather than against a background that could belong to absolutely anyone.

  • Yes. I can conduct interviews and deliver reported captions, accompanying text or a complete written and photographed feature when that suits the commission.

    My published articles and columns on photography, visual culture, journalism ethics, misinformation and press freedom are collected under Words.

  • Yes. Photography remains the core of my practice, but I also regularly shoot video, particularly when it forms part of a wider photographic or editorial assignment.

    I have experience producing interviews, observational footage and short-form video in Finland and in complex international contexts. I am used to working with producers, editors, translators and local teams, and to gathering material in situations where time, access and conditions are less than ideal.

    For smaller assignments, I can often produce both still photography and video. For larger or primarily video-led productions, I prefer to build the right team rather than pretend that one person carrying several cameras is automatically a production company.

  • I work professionally in Finnish and English. For assignments requiring other languages, I work with interpreters, local journalists or other trusted collaborators.

  • Yes. I regularly work alongside writers, editors, communications teams, producers, translators and local colleagues. I can join an existing production or help think through the team, access and workflow an assignment will require.

Process and delivery

  • The most useful brief covers:

    • what is happening and why it matters;

    • the date, location and likely schedule;

    • who or what needs to be photographed;

    • the intended publication or communications use;

    • the required delivery time;

    • any access, safeguarding or security considerations;

    • the budget or applicable house rate.

    Examples of the intended layout, visual references or previous coverage are also very useful. They help clarify how the photographs need to function, whether that means a single opening image, a portrait-led feature, a sequence or a broader library of material.

    Not everything needs to be decided before involving the photographer. I am happy to help develop the visual approach, think through locations and situations, and identify what the assignment may need while it is still being planned.

    A detailed brief is welcome. A half-formed idea and an urgent deadline are also familiar forms of communication.

  • For news assignments, same-day editing and transmission can be agreed in advance. When speed is the priority, selected photographs can also be transmitted directly from the camera during the assignment.

    Portraits and shorter editorial assignments can usually be delivered on a similarly tight schedule when necessary.

    Larger documentary commissions are edited according to an agreed delivery plan. It is generally better to decide this before somebody begins asking where the photographs are.

  • A normal delivery consists of a carefully edited selection of high-resolution JPEG files.

    Editorial and documentary deliveries include accurate captions and IPTC metadata, normally covering names, ages where relevant, locations, dates and the context needed to understand each photograph.

  • Fees depend on the assignment’s duration, complexity, location, production requirements, deadline and intended use.

    I can work with an appropriate publication or organisation house rate, or provide a quotation covering the photography fee, editing, travel and production expenses, and the required licence. International travel days, accommodation, local transport, visas, permits, insurance and specialist safety arrangements are quoted where applicable.

  • Usage is agreed according to the commission. This may include a single editorial publication, print and digital use, social media, institutional communications, a defined campaign or broader international distribution.

    Copyright remains with the photographer unless an explicit transfer has been agreed. Additional territories, publications, campaigns, syndication or extended use can be licensed separately.

    Clear rights are preferable to the phrase “all media forever”, which is less a usage description than a small cry for help.

Ethics and working methods

  • I work on the basis that people are participants in a story, not raw material for one.

    That means explaining the assignment as clearly as possible, seeking informed consent, paying particular attention to children and people in vulnerable situations, and considering what publication could mean for the person photographed. Consent is a process rather than a signature collected at the beginning and forgotten.

    The aim is to photograph difficult realities accurately without staging scenes, flattening people into stereotypes or pretending that dignity requires hiding everything uncomfortable.

  • No. I do not use generative AI to create, replace or materially alter documentary or editorial content.

    Editing follows normal journalistic standards and may include adjustments to exposure, colour, contrast, cropping, noise and sensor dust. Meaningful elements are not added, removed or rearranged. Any exceptional treatment would be clearly disclosed.

    I also write and speak about synthetic imagery, visual misinformation and the changing relationship between photography and truth.

Talks, lectures and training

  • Yes. I give talks, guest lectures and training sessions on photojournalism, visual communication, journalism ethics and the ways photographs operate in public life.

    These can take the form of a conference presentation, university lecture, professional training session, panel discussion or a more informal conversation built around examples from my own work.

  • My talks often draw on my work as a photojournalist and visual communications specialist. Previous subjects have included:

    • stories and people that remain unseen in society, considered through photojournalism;

    • how editors and organisations can create better photography assignments and build productive relationships with photographers;

    • ethical visual communication, informed consent and the representation of people in vulnerable situations;

    • the right to photograph in public places, and the separate legal and ethical questions involved in publishing those photographs;

    • visual misinformation, synthetic imagery and trust in photography;

    • working as a photojournalist in Finland and internationally;

    • my own route into photojournalism and the practical realities of building a career in the field.

    This is not a fixed menu. A talk can be developed around a particular theme, audience or event.

  • I have spoken to journalism and photography students, editors, communications professionals, NGO staff and people working on social inclusion and public-interest projects.

    Recent engagements have included lectures for university and vocational students, professional presentations for the magazine industry, and internal training on ethical communications and visual communication.

    The level and emphasis can be adapted for students, experienced professionals or audiences without a specialist background in photography.

  • Yes. I offer tailored training for editorial teams, NGOs, communications departments and other organisations that commission, produce or publish photographs.

    Possible subjects include writing better photography briefs, working effectively with photographers, ethical image production, consent, safeguarding, captions and metadata, selecting photographs, and developing practical visual guidelines.

  • I give talks, lectures and training sessions in Finnish and English.

  • Email antti@anttiyrjonen.fi with the event or organisation, proposed topic, audience, format, location, date and approximate duration.

    A finished programme is not necessary. I can also help shape the subject and format around what the audience would find most useful.

Commissioning

  • Email antti@anttiyrjonen.fi with the date, location, proposed assignment, deadline, intended use and any budget or house-rate information you already have.

    For urgent assignments, call +358 443 456 894.

    A complete brief is useful, but not a precondition for saying hello.