Hakala, Pori and Satakunta photographed by K.E. Klint

The modern viewer gets acquainted with a different Pori and Satakunta through the photographs taken by Kustaa Emil Klint during the first decades of the 20th century. The Keski-Pori Church proudly overlooks the low-rise wooden town. The River Kokemäenjoki appears even wider than at present, with the pontoon bridge laid up for the winter and the crowded bridge boat as the only means of crossing the river. The cows are pasturing right next to Rosenlew's industrial area in Aittaluoto. Salted Baltic herring is being sold at Karjaranta and hair nets at the chemist´s. The first automobiles appear among horses and bicycles on the calm streets of Pori. In the photographs the cultural landscape of Satakunta is presented beautifully. The buildings and groups of buildings naturally intertwine with the skilfully maintained fields. There is a clear social division: farmhouses are distinct from crofters´ huts, crofters´ huts from those of cotters. The difference is obvious both in the surroundings and in the buildings. The church stands in the middle of the village. A fashionable vicarage is the pride of the whole parish. The pictures also present the people of Satakunta performing various tasks - at the market, attending a heritage course, in the bag factory, doing the laundry... Even the traditional group photographs are taken in genuine surroundings, in or out of doors depending on the theme, never in the atelier. People and their backgrounds form an unforced unity.