About this site
This is my personal blog. I mostly write about public saunas (pirts, баня). Sauna is a place where you sit naked and throw water to the hot stones and whip yourself with a whisk. Public sauna is a place where anyone can enter without any reservation.
Why this site
Let me quote Vladimir Gilyarovsky:
В литературе о банном быте Москвы ничего нет. Тогда все это было у всех на глазах, и никого не интересовало писать о том, что все знают: ну кто будет читать о банях?
My own translation: ”In the literature there was nothing about banyas in Moscow. Banya was part of everyday life and nobody was interested in writing about anything what was well known. Who would read about banyas?” In Finnish? Read Giljarovski, Vladimir: Muistojen Moskova.
About me
My name is Ville. And I love sauna!
I am documentarist, not artist. Bathing in sauna is the art which I try to document. I write, take photos, draw floor plans… I want to preserve the 2010s public sauna to the future generations. I have promised to publish a book about sauna in 2115.
Who knows how were public saunas one hundred years ago in Helsinki? Try to find it out but it is not so easy anymore. Who knows in 2115 how were public saunas in 2010s? They will all know since they read my blog.
About sauna photography
Sorry, I take photos in public saunas. I try to respect privacy. If you see me shooting with tripod, please, don’t stop but continue moving. Long exposure photos are taken with tripod so you will not be sharp on the photos.
The best documentary photos are group photos. More people is better. Don’t look at the camera. Be natural. I promise I will not publish any intimate parts of human.
Contact
email: ville (@) saunakulttuuri (.) com
twitter: saunakulttuuri
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/136968302@N06/
web: http://www.kyly.info
Member of
Sauna Arla perinneyhdistys
Sauna Co op
Sompasauna ry