Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio from Oulu and his photographs of space have been chosen as number 57 of the 100 Acts from Oulu campaign. J-P Metsävainio is an astrophotographer from Oulu, whose observatory is located near Oulu city center. Metsävainio was awarded the Stella Arcti Award in 2009. His works have also been featured in numerous publications, including NASA, National Geographic, LPOD, Sky & Telescope, Universe Today, the Daily Mail and Discover Magazine. In Finland, there are only a handful of astrophotography enthusiasts - and there are only some one hundred astrophotographers in the world as skilled as Metsävainio.
J-P Metsävainio is not only an astrophotographer, but also an avid developer of the field. He has showcased some of the new and effective processing methods he has developed in several international seminars. Today, he can look back on a career in astrophotography spanning some 20 years and filled with experimentation, trial and error - and successes. Metsävainio has a background in the arts, architecture and technology, but he has also studied sciences independently in connection with his astrophotography. In astrophotography, Metsävainio combines science and art: for him, astrophotography is an art form made possible through the use of technology.
Metsävainio began his career in astrophotography by photographing the moon using a 12-inch mirror telescope and a connected web camera. Today, Metsävainio specializes in taking photographs of our galaxy’s nebulas. The exposure times of these photographs are dozens of hours: during a single winter at the altitude of Oulu, you can take 10-15 photographs if you stick at it all night when the sky is at its brightest.
The residents of Oulu got a chance to admire J-P Metsävainio’s 3D photographs of space on the big screen in the Rotuaari pedestrian street on January 21, 2014. The Ookko nää pällistellyt tähtiä (“Have you looked at the stars?”) event, organized by the Kaleva newspaper, attracted hundreds of people to Rotuaari Square, despite the biting temperatures. The exhibition was produced using anaglyph 3D and required viewers to wear special 3D glasses in order to create the 3D effect.
For more information, please contact:
J-P Metsävainio astroanarchy@gmail.com, tel: +358 (0)40 826 7863
Jukka-Pekka Metsävainio’s works can be viewed on his photography portfolio and blog at
http://astroanarchy.zenfolio.com/ and http://www.astroanarchy.blogspot.fi/
In addition, you can watch some of his experimental animations on Youtube at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCivFr6kAAYZqMVE2doG9uDQ/videos?view=0&flow=grid