Vogue Scandinavia sat down with Finnish photographer Teemu Järvinen, whose viral snaps and videos of rain-drenched Asian cities have taken social media by storm
Amid a late-night doomscrolling session on Instagram Reels, a surprisingly serene clip suddenly pops up. An Asian city, drenched in the rain and engulfed in fog, is depicted in a way that is melancholic and moody yet incredibly enthralling. Perhaps you have stumbled upon these viral videos (some of which have amassed over 20 million views), too, courtesy of Finnish photographer Teemu Järvinen or @teemu.jpeg like he’s known to his burgeoning online audience.
A self-described “pluviophile” (a person who enjoys rain and rainy days and who is fascinated by the sights, sounds, etc., of rain), 29-year-old Järvinen’s work is all about exploring the conditions that some might deem the bleakest and uninspiring. For Järvinen, rain-soaked urban landscapes catalyse his creativity, the city awakening as everyone scurries indoors seeking shelter. “Rain quiets the world and makes everything more visually beautiful with the colours and textures it brings,” he says. “And what I like about Asia is that there are heavy rain seasons.”
Originally hailing from Kouvola, southeastern Finland, Järvinen’s main base is currently in Bangkok, though much of his time is spent zipping across Asia, chasing after temperamental skies. Although Järvinen lived in Finland until 19, he always had the itch to leave home and step out of his comfort zone. “Finland was a wonderful place to grow up, I have some good memories of my childhood and teens, but I always knew I wanted to at least try living abroad,” he recalls. “I was always fascinated by big cities. More practically, while in high school, I’d been building a location-independent SEO consulting business, and while that was going great, it also left me extremely bored as I was just working from home all day. Also, I hated the winters in Finland. So leaving wasn’t that difficult, although scary at first.”
Seoul by night, as captured by Järvinen. Photo: Teemu Järvinen
“Rain quiets the world and makes everything more visually beautiful,” Järvinen says.
Embarking on his travels, Järvinen visited countless stunning locales, which he felt ought to be immortalised. After purchasing his first-ever camera, Järvinen was “instantly hooked”. “My favourite images are ones that combine a certain mood with the more obvious visual beauty of these megacities,” he explains. “I think my style is just a result of years of refining that instinct.”
While he only began capturing images in his 20s, Järvinen had felt drawn to this noir aesthetic since a young age. “I have some memories of walking to school on a foggy, dark morning, or walking home from school during winter when it was already dark, or sitting in the bus when it was raining outside – those moments always felt special and calm to me. Back then, I just couldn’t explain why,” he says. “I’m from a very working-class background, so I just didn’t have anyone to push me into this kind of more artistic direction back then.”
A picture Järvinen has captured in Tokyo. Photo: Teemu Järvinen
And Järvinen isn’t the only one enchanted by the rain and darkness. His Instagram account has garnered over a million followers, and many of his clips have hit tens of millions of views, indicating just how evocatively he captures gloomy conditions. While honing his photography skills, Järvinen had been shooting short videos here and there, but it wasn’t until later that he had a platform where to showcase his creations. “Before social media largely switched to Reels/TikTok videos, there was no good way to share them. So I kind of forgot about them for a while,” he says. “Then, one night, I decided to share one of my old videos as a reel, it instantly blew up, and I realised there was finally a ‘market’ for this kind of short form cinematic video content. It was kind of a perfect storm.”
Reflecting on his remarkable online success, Järvinen embodies the hallmark of Finnish modesty. “It’s nice,” he says. “I didn’t expect this many people to relate it [my work] on a deeper level. That part makes me happy, that my work seems to bring people exactly the feeling that I personally chase when I create them, and not only just ‘cool visuals’.”
Today, Järvinen is making moves towards filmmaking with the goal of establishing his own video production company. He has already released a short film on YouTube, and perhaps one day soon, we’ll get to savour a full-length flick to transport us away from reality for more than just a couple of fleeting minutes. “It’s a cliche, but it really is more about the journey than the eventual destination, so I’ll just keep going wherever life takes me without fixating too much on a particular goal,” Järvinen says. “Because where I am now, compared to 10 years ago, is completely bizarre if I stop to think about it, and could never have been planned [it].”