Stunning Photos of a Young Woman’s Off-Grid Life in Finland

By Alison Nastasi

May 8, 2016

Paris-born photographer Brice Portolano captures the relationship between people and nature in his work. His documentary series Arctic Love, which we first spotted on My Modern Met, follows a young woman named Tinja, who lives nearly 200 miles from the nearest town in Finland. There, she raises 85 sled dogs and lives off the stunning landscape, with no one but Alex, a former professional skier, to keep her company on occasion. Her isolated lifestyle finds her tending to the animals, breaking the river ice each morning for water, and using candles to light her quaint home. “I don’t want material things,” she tells Portolano. “Nature provides all I need.” Off-grid living has become trendy in recent years, but it’s always fascinating to see how someone who genuinely loves the lifestyle is making it work. And that snowy Finnish vista is to die for.