Talk about a blast from the past. I hadn’t seen this photo until a few days ago, when the photographer sent me a copy. What you see here is (most of) the Reserve Officer Course 107 of the Imperial Finnish Navy, 22 years ago in late ’89 or early ’90. Surprisingly enough I still remember most of the names, although I suppose I could always look the missing ones up in the yearbook I edited. Less surprisingly, I haven’t seen most of them since, and the two I still keep in touch with aren’t in the shot (one of them being behind the camera). One can’t help but wonder whether they are all still alive. I’m in the back, poking my tongue out in front of the truck’s windshield.
Unfortunately the B&W nature of the photo doesn’t do justice to the bright blue track suits, affectionately known as “Smurf Suits”. The rest of the picture is more or less just as gray as it would have been in real life.