Military memoir
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Back in 2008 I started my conscription military service in the Finnish defence forces. I ended my 6-month service with the rank of Jääkäri, which is most likely equal to army ranger, specialized as a field radio operator for artillery fire control squad.
During my service I volunteered as the photographer for my company. I started the assignment with a Ricoh 500G rangefinder, which unfortunately (and predictably) took quite a beating while I was crawling through forest floors. To prevent further damage I settled for a less emotionally valuable Nikon point-and-shoot digital camera.
My assignment as the company photographer resulted in me not turning in any photos. Nobody asked for them. So it goes. Anyway, I’m going to share some of the photos here and now.
The photos shot on film are also the ones I consider better and are thus posted here. While re-scanning the rolls I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I had managed to get things mostly in focus.
After sixteen years it was fun to reminisce about my days of youth. Looking at the photos also gave me a good excuse to reach out to my old army buddies, with whom I had no talked since, and ask how they're doing, share these photos with them, and ask for permissions to publish them online.
Got something to say? Please reach out to mkukka@jkry.org!