HS Helsinki | The famous photographer of Kalasatama Lighthouse had to move out: “Rising interest rates would bite”

Helsinki native Janne Hirvosen was facing a difficult place at the end of March.

In recent years, the entrepreneur working as a photographer has become known for his Instagram account called Majakanvahti. The brand is based on the fact that Hirvonen has lived in Kalasatama in the 35-story Redin Majakka tower block and shared the landscape photos he captured from there.

The account has more than 16,000 followers.

Due to the tightening of the economic situation, accelerated inflation and housing costs that have increased by several hundred euros, Hirvonen recently had to sell his apartment and move out of Majaka.

“I am one of those who would be hit hard by the rise in mortgage interest rates,” he says.

“Last winter was really quiet in terms of photography gigs, and for many months there was almost no income at all. An expensive apartment in Majaka therefore started to be a rather difficult equation.”

From the original by profession, Hirvonen is a land surveying engineer who has worked for a long time with aerial photography and drone surveying. Although the work was meaningful, it was very busy and he even experienced burnout in recent years.

In the spring of 2020, Hirvonen set up his blog, which today has almost 17 thousand followers on Instagram. The popularity gave him the confidence to finally jump into becoming a full-time entrepreneur at the beginning of last year.

“During the day job, the passion for photography stopped almost completely. Through the lighthouse keeper, I got my hobby back and decided to make it my profession.”

The first summer as an entrepreneur was busy, but after the general economic situation weakened and work decreased towards winter, Hirvonen had to make a difficult decision and sell his apartment in Majaka. Luckily for him, it sold out on the first screen.

“I was afraid that the sales process would be really long, but I was lucky. I was quite satisfied with the price, even though a year earlier I could have gotten more for the apartment.”

Long Hirvonen wondered what would happen to the Majakanvahti brand if the watchman moved out of Majaka.

However, the decision was made easier by the fact that Hirvonen received permission from the board of the housing company to still visit the tower block from time to time to film using the door code. In the near future, he plans to negotiate if he could also get his own key.

“Photography is still different when I don’t live in the house. Back then, I was always at the game venues with a camera, and I could quickly get to more than a hundred meters with the elevator, if there was a sudden weather phenomenon.”

Hirvonen shared his change on Instagram, where the reaction was a bit shocked at first, but the number of followers did not decrease in the end.

Today, he lives in Merihaaa in a rented apartment on the 14th floor, with a view of the former home.

The private outdoor balcony makes it possible to leave the camera overnight to take e.g. time lapse videos. In the lighthouse, they did not dare to leave camera equipment worth several thousand euros unattended in the common areas.

“Merihaaa has very good seascapes facing east, so I can see every single sunrise from here. The most important criterion for the new apartment was that you can see far,” he says.

Although Hirvonen has been satisfied with his new apartment, he still dreams of moving back to Majakka – or another similar tall tower block, which are being planned for example in Keski-Pasila and Keilaniemi in Espoo.

“I’ve always had a dream to live in a tower with a far-reaching view. I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” he states.

Read more: With a special permit, Janne Hirvonen is allowed to climb to the roof of the tower block in Kalasatama, because it is his hobby – from 134 meters he takes photos that have never been seen before