[steveb]

This year's winner is Hannes Heikura (third time!) for his shot of a sailboat and its wake through blue algae in the Baltic.
A gallery of his work - remember, these are not intended as art photography, but simply to illustrate newspaper articles - is on this page HS.fi
Look for the heading Hannes Heikuran palkitut kuvat. Currently in the right column. After the pics automatically display, more work by other photographers is available by clicking the picture links on the right and the last sentence in the body of the text (which means "View X's work").
I have to say again how fortunate we are in Finland to have daily access to this standard of work over our breakfast coffee!

[H3LLRA1Z3R]

I got lost, but managed to find his work. Some very good shots.

I have to say again how fortunate we are in Finland to have daily access to this standard of work over our breakfast coffee!

Very jealous, design in this country is shit, it is all copies of swiss typography and photos of the same shit landmarks and none of it is done well.

Also saw this sentence and it made me giggle - Onko homoseksuaalisuus yhä tabu Suomessa?

I have no idea what it means so I just made my own interpretation up.

[steveb]

Is homosexuality still taboo in Finland?

The question arose because a new animation film depicts the Finnish wartime "Churchill", Mannerheim, as gay. Rumours have flown around about his sexuality for decades. He never married and was rarely seen in female company. He was a great adventurer and explorer and old enough to have served in the Russian horse guards before Finland gained independence in 1917. He led Finland through the two separate skirmishes with the USSR during what the rest of the world calls World War Two (in Finland, the period is referred to as "The Wars"). He later became President of Finland. He died in 1951.

Due to geography and economics, Finland was forced to align itself with Nazi Germany against the USSR until 1944 and when the Nazis demanded that Finnish Jews be handed over for "resettlement in the Eastern Zone", Mannerheim put his foot down and refused Hitler.

This interesting anomaly led to the situation where Finnish Jews fought alongside Nazi German soldiers against the USSR in 1942-44.

Israeli holocaust agitators have tried to implicate Finland in war crimes due to the deaths of some 60-70 Jews at German hands during this period, but they were Russian prisoners-of-war whose religious alignment became clear only long after hostilities had ceased.

Whether Mannerheim felt greater concern about Finland's small Jewish community through compassion or because as a very closeted member of an illegal minority (homosexuality was illegal here until 1971) he anticipated something of their social standing should Germany win the war, is something we shall possibly never know.

Finnish gays regard Mannerheim as their great hero - the world's first gay president. Other citizens regard the mere suggestion as akin to blasphemy. Hence the controversy. Hence the headline.

[H3LLRA1Z3R]

Who needs Wikipedia when we have SteveB
I have actually been reading lots on WW2 at the moment so knew a small amount. Good to have an idea of what went on ,so cheers.