The Picture Collections

Korkeakoski (Högfors) rapids in the river Kymijoki ca. 1800 (cropped image), Alexander Amatus Thesleff / Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: HK19410320:2

Shot-putter Tuula Kivi at an international competition in Kouvola on 16 July 1981 (cropped image), Lauri Sorvoja / JOKA / Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: JOKALS17Kan08A01:1

Folk dresses from Kaukola, 1860–1861 (cropped image), Magnus von Wright / Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: KK988:14

Buildings in Maakalla, 1999 (cropped image), Harri Nyman / Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: RHO125016:22022

Three Khanty women wearing wild reindeer fur coats in Siberia 1899–1900 (cropped image), U. T. Sirelius / Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: SUK36:54

The Oldžigin family having a meal in Kolgujak, Siberia, in 1912 (cropped image), Kai Donner / Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: VKK532:2207

Soviet Union’s (left), Finland’s och USA’s presidents with their wifes at a top meeting in Helsinki, Finland, on September 9, 1990 (cropped image). Kuvaaja: Leif Rosas / Pressfoto Zeeland / JOKA / Finnish Heritage Agency. Objektinumero: JOKAPF31_13:1

The Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency are a part of Finland’s national cultural heritage managed by the Finnish Heritage Agency. They are a way to show the past and create interpretations of history. The Picture Collections of the Finnish Heritage Agency record, care for, and study cultural and historical, ethnological, architectural historical and journalistic picture materials and make them available for public use.

The Picture Collections record and tell stories of the history and cultures of the area of Finland and the people who live and have lived here, the built environment, and the Finno-Ugric cultures, as well as the cultures of areas outside Finland through documentation by Finnish researchers and explorers. The collections include the extensive collections of the Press Photo Archive (JOKA), which include news and entertainment images from newspapers over the past decades. The collections include a total of approximately 22 million pictures created with different techniques, dating from the 1500s to the present.

The Picture Collections are a part of the Archives and Information Services department of the Finnish Heritage Agency.