How was it like to photograph presidents Zelenskyy and Stubb?
Photographing the presidents was like any other assignment, I did my job as well as I could. Except that before the “Europe Standing with Ukraine” event I was more excited than usual – it was such a big thing for me. I have photographed celebrities, politicians, ministers, presidents, nobility and royals – you name it, for 18 years, so I am accustomed to working with anyone. This event was special, since the situation in Ukraine has touched me deeply and I have followed pretty closely the news about Russian invasion of Ukraine closely from day one.
Two days before the event we had a meeting at the university with the event team. It turned out that photographers weren’t allowed to shoot very near the presidents. After the meeting I called Canon and asked if they had a long lens I could borrow. Turned out that they had two long Canon RF telephoto lenses, 400mm and 600mm available. I did some quick thinking and decided that the 400mm lens would suit my purpose better. With that lens, it is easy to increase focal length with extenders, would also have more flexibility than with the 600 mm, which would have too narrow angle of view. Next morning I had the Canon RF 400mm F2.8 L IS USM and Canon RF Extenders 1.4x and 2x on my hands! I didn’t waste any time, I grabbed my new gear and went out to experiment! Thank you Canon!
D-Day
The next morning I ordered a taxi and headed to the university. I had to be there quite early, because of all security measures.
As the main event drew nearer, I walked with my gear to the beautiful Great Hall. Most of the audience were already seated. I put my bags down between the security officers, grabbed my cameras and went to the best spot I could find to photograph the presidents arriving from the main doorway. It was really a compromise spot since we were not allowed to work at the floor or the stairs.
Everyone waited for the heads of state to arrive. In the meantime I photographed the audience and reporters. Both Finnish and Ukrainian security personnel were visible everywhere.
At 15.04, presidents Zelenskyy and Stubb arrived and all the cameras started to roll. I photographed first with the 14-35mm and 70-200mm, then changed to 400mm for more close-ups of the presidents.
I do a lot of work for the University and always enjoy listening to the speeches. Since I don’t speak Ukrainian I understood only the English parts. I had the headphones on my seat for the simultaneous interpretation but naturally I didn’t have time to sit on my seat listening.
The discussion was really interesting. Especially great moment was when Zelenskyy made Stubb burst out laughing. They conversed about their age – Zelenskyy stated that Stubb might be older than he is, but he certainly looks younger! Stubb’s laughter seemed to last forever! Which was of course a good thing for a photographer. I got a huge amount of photos of Stubb laughing.
Aftermath
In the end of the event I managed to get the iconic (at least I think it is iconic) picture of Zelenskyy and Stubb smiling and hugging. What an end to a fantastic event!
When the event was over, I grabbed my stuff with me and walked to the room where the Communications and Community Relations staff were. I opened my laptop, imported all the photos and started browsing. My client hoped for a picture of the presidents shaking hands but unfortunately I had too long lens at that moment and didn’t manage to capture it. Instead I knew I had the picture of Zelenskyy and Stubb smiling and hugging in the end. Perfect. I had even better image to offer.
Here it is, once more!
Here is the press release of the University of Helsinki, with some more pictures I took.
Press release of the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland.
Press release of The Presidential Office of Ukraine.
Here you can watch the whole “Europe Standing with Ukraine” discussion:
And here is the front page of the University of Helsinki site.
What a day it was! A big thank you to all the great folks at the university! 🙌
It was great to have you on board for this, Pekka – and that photo is truly iconic🥇
Thank you Tiina very much! It was a pleasure to be at the university photographing such an important and epic event!