christmas eve, hietaniemen hautausmaa (hietaniemi graveyard / sandudds begravningsplats).

large portions of the graveyard were lit only by candlelight, placed there by loved ones, the church or people who want to commemorate something or someone. most headstones had a candle in front of it, in a little well dug out of the snow. the candle light reflected off some of the headstone that had a polished finish. passing through groups of people one could hear numbers and family roles being mentioned over and over. “kuus vuotta” “mummi” “fem år” “veljeni”. some people standing in silence, some people standing in a group remembering or praying.

in the quiter parts of graveyard a strange inversion took place – the candles lit up the headstones causing them to become alive in a way, in the background people, wrapped up to protect from the cold, moved in a ghostlike fashion.