Photo archive

Almost 40,000 images are cataloged in the electronic collection management system of the Craft Museum of Finland's photo archive. The photo collection consists of original photos and prints made with different techniques. The oldest image material are glass negatives from the beginning of the 20th century, and the newest image material are image files in digital form, which have become common since the beginning in the 21st century.

The photo archive's collections are made up of donated photos and material collected from the documentation of artisans made by the museum. The museum started documenting craftspeople already in the 1980s, and since then the documentation of various craft techniques and craftspeople has been central to the museum's activities. The subjects of the documentation have also been hobbyists and professional craftspeople

Images from the photo archive are forwarded to customers for both private use and publications. The customer can order a photo by contacting the person in charge of the photo service by phone or email. They also has the opportunity to visit the museum themself, in which case the staff will assist them in retrieving pictures. The ordered images are only delivered in electronic form. Images are subject to a license fee according to the valid price list.

The photo collections of the Museum of Finnish Crafts are currently not available online for everyone to browse.

Some photos from the collections of the Finnish Handicraft Museum can be downloaded for free on the museum's Handicraft Images website (in Finnish). The online availability of images will improve in the future with a public collection database. The collections of the Craft Museum of Finland's photo archive will also be exported to Finna service in the near future.