"Pääsukese Eestimaa" - a swallow's view of Estonia in the bookstores
“Pääsukese Eestimaa“ – A Swallow’s View of Estonia - was introduced on Tuesday in the "Rahva Raamat“ bookstore at Viru Centre in Tallinn. The atmosphere was pleasant, the authors replied to interesting questions and the book is a delight for eyes and heart – it is a work of love. Moreover, the changes in Estonian nature photography are interesting to note.
Texts are in Estonian and English.
Texts are in Estonian and English.
A slide series from the book:
About the book:
Estonia as seen by our national bird, the barn swallow, is quite different from the Estonia of humans. But nature and man must exist together, respecting and considering each other. The purpose of "Pääsukese Eestimaa“ is to show our beautiful homeland as seen through the eyes of our national bird.
Barn swallows choose their territories and flight paths based on their need of food. Thus they can live as successfully in a barn on an isolated bog isle in the Alam-Pedja protection area, in a Kõrvemaa forest village, at the Sõrve säär lighthouse, in the largely man-created Otepää cultural landscape, or under the eaves of a Tallinn high-rise building. The life style of the barn swallow is as many-faceted as our Estonia.
The book presents our homeland in all its beauty – so that Estonians may be proud, and visitors will yearn to be back at the first opportunity. In the search for visual perfection days are never alike. Our nature and climate play vital roles in evoking emotions and showing familiar landscapes from novel aspects. We treasure the rare and unique moments - moments which we often do not notice in our everyday life at home but which the barn swallow, sailing in the sky, experiences almost every day.
Barn swallows choose their territories and flight paths based on their need of food. Thus they can live as successfully in a barn on an isolated bog isle in the Alam-Pedja protection area, in a Kõrvemaa forest village, at the Sõrve säär lighthouse, in the largely man-created Otepää cultural landscape, or under the eaves of a Tallinn high-rise building. The life style of the barn swallow is as many-faceted as our Estonia.
The book presents our homeland in all its beauty – so that Estonians may be proud, and visitors will yearn to be back at the first opportunity. In the search for visual perfection days are never alike. Our nature and climate play vital roles in evoking emotions and showing familiar landscapes from novel aspects. We treasure the rare and unique moments - moments which we often do not notice in our everyday life at home but which the barn swallow, sailing in the sky, experiences almost every day.
In the quest for those special moments nature photographer Sven Zacek has spent long hours riding metal "barn swallows" - aircrafts. Even when our national bird had left for winter holidays in a warmer climate Sven kept his eye on the homeland - always to capture with his camera the unique light that would show Estonia from its best aspects. Mind-catching moments must be searched for; they are not there simply to be picked like ripe strawberries from a garden bed. But so the joy of finding will be the greater. There are many such moments in the book, offering the reader too the happiness of recognition and discovery.
Nature man and photographer Fred Jüssi who has criss-crossed Estonia during decades reflects on the theme of Estonia’s changing landscapes and considers how nature and man have adapted to each other with time, but also how man has influenced nature with his activities.
Happy (re)discovery of Estonia!
Book authors: Fred Jüssi and Sven Začek
Cover photo: Sven Začek
The book can be ordered from Rahva Raamat:
Translation: Liis
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