Signe Viola Brander (15 April 1869 – 17 May 1942) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

photographer. She is best known for documenting the changing cityscapes of

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and the everyday lives of the city's inhabitants in the early 20th century.

Early life

Brander was born in

Parkano Parkano is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located north of Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region. The population of Parkano is () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density is . The munici ...

and spent her childhood and youth in

Kokkola Kokkola (; sv, Karleby, ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. The town is located in the Central Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of ...

. After her customs official father died in 1891, the family moved to Helsinki. There Brander took a course in the

University of Art and Design A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

to become a drawing teacher, but later focused on photography, working for instance in the studio of

Daniel Nyblin Carl Petter Daniel Dyrendahl Nyblin (30 June 1856, Drammen - 19 July 1923, Helsinki) was a Norwegian photographer who spent most of his life in Finland. Biography His father was the sculptor, Carl Petter Dyrendahl Nyblin (1818-1883). After studyi ...

City photography

In 1906 the city of Helsinki founded an antiquities board. One of its duties was to document the changing city in photographs. The board hired Brander. Even though a woman photographer was not a rarity in the beginning of the 20th century, there were few working as city photographers. The photographic documentary work started in 1907 and ended in 1913. The result was 907 photos of the changing cityscapes. The project was carefully planned and the city's planning and building authorities provided information to the antiquities board and Brander. However, she had a lot of freedom to express her artistic vision. In the difficult and cramped urban environment the photographer had to have technical know-how, compositional skills and capacity for creative problem-solving. The weight of the photographic equipment also made the task physically challenging. Brander often hired a horse-drawn carriage to transport her equipment. On the most challenging shoots she apparently also had an assistant. File:Helsingin rautatieasema, Helsinki 1907 (2).jpg, Helsinki's old railway station, 1907 File:Kauppatori, Helsinki 1907.jpg,

Market Square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Hakaniemi Hakaniemi (; sv, Hagnäs) is an unofficial district of Helsinki, the Finnish capital. It covers most of the neighbourhood of Siltasaari in the district of Kallio. Hakaniemi is located at the sea shore and is separated from the city centre by the ...

square, 1907 File:Munkkisaari, Helsinki 1907.jpg,

Munkkisaari Hernesaari (; sv, Ärtholmen; until 2013 known as Munkkisaari / ''Munkholmen'')Kaisaniemi Kaisaniemi ( sv, Kajsaniemi) is a part of the centre of Helsinki, Finland. It is located immediately north of the Helsinki Central railway station and south of Hakaniemi. The most famous part of Kaisaniemi is the Kaisaniemi park, a park covering ...

park, 1912 File:Eteläsatama, Helsinki 1912.jpg, South Harbour, 1912 File:Hertankatu, Helsinki 1912.jpg, Hertankatu, 1912 File:Töölönlahti, Helsinki 1912.jpg, Töölönlahti Bay, 1912

People, war memories and estates

In addition to her photography skills Brander also had artistic vision thanks to her drawing studies, and at their best her photos were almost visual art in their expression, composition and use of light. The central ideal of photographs at that time, however, was the sharpness and the detail of the photo, which made it possible to reproduce them correctly. Brander's photographs prominently feature people, everyday residents of Helsinki. They are continuously among the most popular in the

Helsinki City Museum Helsinki City Museum ( fi, Helsingin kaupunginmuseo, sv, Helsingfors stadsmuseum) is a museum in Helsinki that documents and displays the history of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its mission is to record and uphold Helsinki's spiritual, mate ...

order catalog. Brander also had other photography projects. In 1907 she toured Finland taking photos of old battlefields for the centenary memorial book of the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic ...

. In 1910 she started a project that would take 20 years, photographing Finnish estates; the project ended up generating over 2,000 photos. Some of these photos were published in the book ''Herrgårdar i Finland'' (1928–1929). File:Kirjolan kartano.jpg, Kirjola estate, 1912 File:Artukaisten kartano.jpg, Artukainen estate, before 1917 File:Tenholan_kartano.jpg, Tenhola estate, before 1920 File:Östersundomin kartano.jpg, Östersundom estate, before 1920

Personal life and death

Brander never married. She died in

Sipoo Sipoo (; sv, Sibbo) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The administrative center of the munic ...

in 1942.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brander, Signe 1869 births 1942 deaths People from Parkano People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns 20th-century Finnish photographers 20th-century women photographers Pioneers of photography 20th century in Helsinki