Getting a face paint

I will probably show you a bunch of photos from the Agricultural College Berga in the following days. They had an open-house weekend and I visited on Saturday. It was the warmest day of the year, and the place was packet with people. I met a friend who was there with his school (Vuxenskolan), and he asked me to take some photos for them. And here are two of those. A little girl getting a face paint. We asked her mother if it was ok to take some photos and she agreed. The little girl on the other hand wasnt that amused by the nosy photographer. But ten minutes later when she was done and was enjoying an ice cream she did look more pleased.

Annika & Siri

Summer is here and I decided it was time for summer street portrait. This is Annika. She lives in one of the four apartments in the old and very interesting building known locally today as Vasko's Pizza Place. The girl in the stroller is Annika's daughter Siri. When I asked Annika if I could take a portrait she asked if I was the guy who had taken a photo of that old house at Hammarbergsvägen. That would be me I told her, and here are the photos. Annika works as a costume designer at Vår Teater in Farsta, a theatre run by the Cultural Committee in Stockholm. The work is also her main hobby she told me. But for now she is Mammaledig which means that she is taking her 16 month long paid maternity leave.

Best served with?

An edible gastropod. I'd never eaten one of these. And luckily for this "Vinbergssnäcka" or Burgundy Snail that I met at the Tungelsta school a couple of days ago, that's not very likely to change any time soon. I hear that they should be served with a lot of garlic. But perhaps anyone of you out there, looking at this suddenly feel hungry? If so let me know how you would serve this.

The (former) Apprentice

Meet Paul. He was out on a promenade with his family when I noticed him with the camera. I asked him if he was going to take a photo of Hammar (in the background), and we started to talk as the rest of his family continued down the road. Paul works at the Swedish Rail Administration. He has published a book about the history of the Nynäsbanan railway line, with another book on the same subject coming later in the year. He said he was looking for train photos and I pointed him in the direction of some of my photos. Paul is a keen photographer and has been since he was very young and had an apprenticeship with a photographer that for many years wanted him to turn pro. Today he shoots mainly digital and has several cameras, but back in the analogue days he used a few Pentax cameras. His latest camera is a Hasselblad 500. He is interested in local history and is a member of the local historical association as is his friend Sune Nilsson ( a flickr contact of mine).Another member of that association is the photographer Kjell Schönbeck that I photographed a while back. I mentioned that I had just been up to the old tree for a photo and he recognised the tree when I showed him my photo ( I was using my cheap point and shoot). We had time to talk about a few other things as we tried to find Paul's family that had disappeared somewhere in Tungelsta!

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Within five minutes yesterday I took photos of two different cars. One Cadillac from 1955 and one Volvo Vera. Only to realise that I took photos of the same two cars one year ago, on the same day! How weird is that. Last years photos were taken at a classic car meet in Handen. The new photos were shot in Tungelsta. The guy in the Cadillac noticed me and stopped for a few seconds so that I could get a photo. And as I took the photo I recognized the car. A few minutes later I was at home, standing on the veranda, when a funny looking car came driving up the road towards the plant nursery. So I grabbed my camera and walked down to were the car had just been parked. And again I was surprised. Because it was Björn Virving who I met at that same car meet one year ago. His car is unique. It's a one of a kind. It's the worlds only Volvo Vera. It used to be a Volvo 162 but that was before Björn rebuilt it. Over a period of 18 months he put down around 1200 hours and this is the result. Since we met Björn has moved to Haninge and while his wife Pia had a look around the greenhouses Björn and I talked a little about his car. Here is a link to last years post with the Volvo Vera. And here is my flickr photo from last year with the Cadillac. I love coincidences like this but I do wonder what the odds are for something like this to happen!

A Different Life

When I first spotted Janne in Västerhaninge, The Dude (From The Big Lebowski), came to mind. Janne turned out to be a man with an interesting and very different life. Over the years he has overcome a lot of problems with drugs and criminality. He lost his driving license (he used to work as a cab driver with Gisela's husband), because of the drugs. Eight years ago one of his daughters died and he crashed completely. He had some serious problems with the law, but somehow managed to stay out of prison and today he lives at a rehab centre and has been drug free for a few years. But for two years he actually lived in a bicycle shed! Today Janne works for Future Teens, an organisation based in Haninge that focuses on helping troubled teenagers. He told me a lot of facts about drug use among teenagers in Haninge today, and that scared me quite a bit. In his work he has meet the Queen of Sweden, and on his Facebook Site there are supposedly some photos of Janne and the Queen hugging! There are some photos from that event on the Future Teens website. For fun Janne works as an extra and has appeared in a few movies including Angel by Colin Nutley, and he can also be seen in the latest Beck movie, as well as in one episode of the next season of the TV show Oskyldigt Dömd,starring Mikael Persbrandt. Janne was a very open and positive person, and I wish him all the best in the future.

Car Boot Sale

There was a car boot sale in Tungelsta on Sunday. Equipped with a cheap point and shoot camera, and no money to speak off, I walked over to the gravel pitch at the school for a look around. The place was filled with a mix of professional traders and locals trying to sell everything from books, vinyl records and DVDs to household appliances and clothing for the young and old. And much more. The soccer club were grilling hot dogs for the hungry. I had my eyes open for an old camera, but couldn't find one. I met a few familiar faces among the traders, including Karin who you can see in the collage. She's the young woman holding the baby in her arms. I have previously photographed her dad the architect. A while later I noticed a woman with a dog and I asked her for a photo. She turned out to be an artist. I also talked to an acquaintance who pointed to the clear blue sky as he was saying that at least the weather is nice, and as always happen when you do something stupid like that, it started to rain a few minutes later and a lot of people left. Luckily the rain stopped and the skies cleared up again so the haggling and bargaining was still going on when I headed for home.

Under the Shade of the Tree

Lambs relaxing under the shade of the tree at the 700 year old Nödesta farm. And what a magnificent tree it is. The lambs are only six weeks old. They live in the barn to the right, and belong to Karin, the dog trainer who you have meet here before. Last time I met her she was training her sheep dog and that was the day the lambs were born. On that day I promised not to tell anyone about the lambs, as it would have attracted a lot of people to the barn. But now they have been out and running for a couple of weeks. I've been meaning to take a photo of this tree for a while now, and on this visit it really was as green as it can get. It was a tricky shoot. It's a big tree, and I stood below a small hill. And this is actually two photos stitched together which is impossible to see. I have yet to identify this tree. At first I thought it was a goat willow, but one of my flickr contacts who is the new Tree Warden at Etchingham thought that it might be a Sycamore.

The Rollerblading Couple

I was on the bike in Handen when this couple came charging towards me on their inline skates so as I always do when I see someone interesting I waved them down for a portrait. This is Mika and Johan. They live together in Jordbro and there might be a wedding approaching. Mika enjoys making necklaces and other such accessories. And according to Johan they do take up a lot of space in their home! Johan is a drummer. He plays in a band called White Dwarf. They often perform at Gula Villan in Handen. A music scene started by Tompa Eken ( abit of a local legend), who was one of the people that started Ultrahuset, a legendary punk scene in Handen during the 1980ths. And poppy punk is how Johan describes the band's music. Oh, and they knew my brother and some of his friends. It's been almost a year since I last photographed a couple of rollerbladers so it was about time!

Garden Bird Watch

I'm often out shooting birds. Sometimes the talking type and sometimes the winged version, and here are a few recent snaps for you to enjoy. All photos taken in the garden at home in the last week or so. The first one is a Chaffinch. Or as we like to call it a Bofink. It's a very common bird and there are around 10 million to be found in Sweden. The second photo shows a Tree Sparrow. It's a fledgling fluttering it's wings to get the parents to feed it. We call this bird Pilfink. Lastly a Greenfinch that can be found all over Europe. The Swedish name is Grönfink.

The Military Police

This is Henrik. A young man in uniform. He is currently doing his national service at the Life Guard Regiment in Kungsängen. Serving at the Dragoons battalion that trains the military police. He is on the last stretch, with only one a couple of weeks left to serve. He told me that his regiment had been travelling all over the country from north to south, and that he had really had a great time in the armed forces. When I met him he was heading home as he was on a few days leave. We had time to talk cameras and I told him about my encounter with the Military Police:

It was a few eons ago now when I did my national service in the Swedish Air Force. We had a two week summer break, and a group of 10 soldiers from all over the country gathered at a famous camp site on the island of Gotland. It was a 24/7 party. Next to the camp site there's a military base, and one day when we were out of booze we drove to Visby in a car that really shouldn't have been on the road. One guy was actually sitting under the hood, he was in charge of the throttle! Anyway we were pulled over by the MP who soon realised that everyone in the rusty old car were soldiers, and we were expecting a serious reprimand, but somehow we managed to talk ourselves out of the situation in time to get to the Systembolaget (the liquor store).

The Scania Man

This is Mihály ( a Hungarian name). While still on the bike I commented on his summer outfit, asking him if it wasnt cold, but he said "not if you are warm on the inside". A few kilometres later I noticed him behind me and decided to wave him down for a chat and a photo. He had been on the bike for a while already as he came all the way from Södertälje which is a 30 km ride away. He was heading for the Medieval church in Västerhaninge where his parents rest at the burial ground. Mihali works at Scania in Södertälje (where Peter took a photo last week). He has been employed there since 1975. Now they will have to take a ten percent pay cut and a four day work week from June because of the recession. He is married and has kids and grand kids. He doesn't own a computer or a mobile phone ( but the wife had a PC, so he was going to check out my photos with her help). He knew a lot about Tungelsta, which we talked a little about. The reason for that is that he used to live there for nearly twenty years. So we have been students at the same school, although Mihali was there a few years before I was born.

The Old Avenue

One of two tree lined avenues at Lida in Tungelsta. Two hundred years ago Frans G Upmark bought the land here and built the Hammar residence. He also planted the trees for the two avenues. Today I often meet the current owner, Charlotte (an ancestor to Frans), when she comes walking down the road. The avenue, made of Populus trees is seven hundred meters long and ends near the residence. If you read this blog regularly (and who doesn't?), you will have seen the other avenue a few times by now.

The Rapper

Meet Claudio. He was on his way to Västerhaninge to see his dad when I spotted him on the walkway, near the Coca-Cola plant in Jordbro a few days ago. I figured he had to be a musician, and up for a portrait. And I was right. Claudio is a rapper and hip-hop artist. And a producer. He spends a lot of time in a music studio called High Level in Rimbo up in Norrtälje (North East of Stockholm). Thanks for the portrait Claudio.

Resting at the grave field

This is Mikael, originally from Malung in Dalarna (up North a bit), but these days he lives in Jordbro. We have met a few times on the bike paths, and on this occasion I spotted him at the ancient grave field in Jordbro and we sat down and talked for a while. Mikael used to work in IT, and is currently looking for a new job. He is a keen fisher and likes the outdoors. As it happens we came to talk about flowers. Mikael was a bit exited. He has a Walking Iris in his kitchen window. That particular Brazilian flower only blooms one day every year, and it happened on the day we met and Mikael got a little crazy with the camera to document the event and showed me the result! Speaking of flowers, one of his relatives is Stig Dalström, a world famous artist, illustrator and orchid taxonomist who works at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Florida, and who is currently making what seems to be a very interesting movie. After our chat I took a couple of portraits and that was that.

Bokeh Saturday

I often photograph birds. It can be tricky sometimes to get close enough for a decent photo. The other day I got a few good ones. This is a Blue tit. Or as we like to call it, a Blåmes. I was a bit lucky with the background here with the blue sky just behind the bird.

Sony vs. Canon

On a recent bike ride I saw these two photographers on a field near Hemfosa ready to shoot, so obviously I had to stop for a chat. Meet Mikael known as Getwet at Fotosidan, and Bosse, Bappel at that same photo community. My first assumption was that they were trainspotters, as they were aiming their cameras towards the railtrack. That wasnt the case. They were practising shooting moving objects. Mikael (Sony), to the left comes from Lundby in Sorunda and his friend Bosse (Canon) comes from Södertälje. They are windsuring friends and can often be seen surfing at Fituna. We had time to talk about cameras and photography until exactly 2 :24 P.M. because that's when the commuter could be seen. I hope the photos came out great guys. As the train approached I took a few steps back and took another photo of the photographers and the passing commuter train.

A Threatening Sky

Time for another look at The Old Tree at Välsta. We call it an Oxel. The latin name is Sorbus intermedia. No Sulky Training this time, but the colors were great, and the skies a bit threatening. And for the first time this year I spotted tiny green leaves. If you haven't seen this tree before, I can tell you that it's one of my ongoing photo projects. This was the 182th photo since December 2005. If you have all day have a look at the slideshow.

The Harley Man From Hofors

I noticed a biker at the parking lot near the commuter station in Västerhaninge and headed over for a photo. This is Göran. He had just arrived to Haninge after a 250 km ride from his home in Hofors, Gästrikland. He is in town to meet his brother Bengt. The bike is a Sportster 1200. Göran is my second my second Harley Man since I started shooting street portraits. Back in March I met another biker, The Vulcan Rider. Fun Facts:There's a club for Swedish Harley owners with 11 000 members. Apparently the biggest Harley club in the world! All in all there are around 249 000 motorcycle owners in Sweden.

Location, Location, Location

Next to Årsta Säteri, (the big farm building you can see in the below photo) in rural Österhaninge there are three row houses like this one. Constructed in the mid 1980ths. If you enjoy golf, horseback riding, swimming in the sea, or sunbathing at the beach, this is where you should live. It's no more than 100 meters to the nearest stable. The second nearest is at the beautiful little village known as Stadsberga. And I'm guessing the people that live here often find golf balls in their gardens as the closest of three golf courses are no more that a short pitch away. The old Årsta castle where you can wine and dine is only a few hundred meters away. I took a great photo of the castle last year for this blog. You can see it here. And to my favorite beach, it's no more than a kilometre.

Family Comes First

This is Patrik. He was taking his dog Nisse, a Bordweiler (Border Collie/Rottweiler), for a walk when I noticed him coming out of the apartment building in Handen. He was kinda easy to spot because of his new tattoo. Which says: Family Comes First. Thomas and Anne are his parents, and then comes the siblings. Patrik is on leave of absence from his job for something like one to three months. Sounds a bit odd doesn't it? The reason is that he works at the Swedish Motor Vehicle Inspection Company, and a while back he was stopped by the police outside Jönköping while driving 121 km/h on a 90 km/h road. The police used a laser so the result was pretty accurate. And because of that he lost his licence for one to three months, the length is not yet decided. And as his employer has a very strict policy about that sort of thing, and that he will test drive the cars there, Patrik will have a few months to do whatever he wants. Had he been clocked at 120 km/h he would have kept his license. I'm guessing he thinks about that extra 1 km/h every now and then!

Posing Squirrel

I have shown you some of the local wildlife before. Like Moose and Roe Deer and all sorts of birds. But this is one of my favorites. The very photogenic squirrel Sciurus vulgaris. Known in Sweden as a Ekorre. It lives here at Bergdalen and is a frequent visitor to the veranda where it often enjoys the bird food. It's quite shy, and if and when you get too close it will make a noise and start to jump around a bit. But as it is well aware that I'm in charge of thee food distribution around here, it doesn't takevery long before it's back, ready to pose for the nutty photographer once again!

The Football Fanatic

As you can probably guess by the title Kaowe is a into soccer. His team is Man United. I met him and his sister in Handen some time ago. They were on their way back to the house in Jordbro after a promenade. Kaowe was easy to spot in his summer outfit. We were expecting summer temperatures, and he sure dressed accordingly. Being a huge fan of Man United Kaowe often flies over to the UK to watch the home games and also some of the away matches. An expensive hobby to say the least. And now as his team have reached the Champions League final in Rome I'm guessing he will be looking to get a ticket to that game.

The Photographer Gets a Helping Hand

Meet the photographer. This is Kjell. Whenever there's something happening in Haninge, be it a car show, Lucia, or the annual Haninge Day, chances are that you will spot Kjell there with his camera ready to shoot. I tend to meet him on all those occasions. Last time we met was during the Lucia celebrations last year. He had some camera trouble and I lend him a battery. You can see him in this collage. Kjelle is heavily involved with the local historical association as a photographer, and is also nuts about ships that he often photographs. He is married and has four kids. I met him in Västerhaninge a while back and we chatted about this and that until his wife showed up and they took off to enjoy lunch at a nearby restaurant. During our meeting I promised to give him the name and phone number of one of the people I have photographed for this blog, Nils Södergren, and they have now been in contact and will meet for a chat about Västerhaninge in the old days, so I'm happy I could make that happen!

The New Motorway

Over the weekend when most of the work on the new motorway between Haninge and Nynäshamn was at a stand still, I took my bicycle down to Hemfosa (see my second photo from my post the other day), for a sneak peak and a somewhat illegal test run. I had to climb up a hill near a pedestrian tunnel to get onto the road, but it was well worth it. The part I checked out was a stretch between two bridges. One of the bridges is almost completed, work on the other is yet to be started. Svevia is one of the contractors that is responsible for this part of the new road. The big yellow thing is that companies mobile stone crushing machine and asphalt machine. At the moment it is placed on what will be the new road, and this part of the road is supposed to be finished this autumn. The old road is known in Sweden as the Road of Death. Over the years many people have lost their lives here. Two years ago I showed a photo of a car collision. When the new motorway opens for traffic, the old road will be used mainly by cyclists and the odd tractor.


The original photos can be seen in my flickr set.

No Total Recall

I always have my eyes open for interesting people these days. So when I spotted this young woman in Västerhaninge, I knew I had to ask her for a portrait. And as I always do I started by explaining why I wanted to take her photo, and where it would end up. But I was cut off in mid sentence by Madde, who informed me that we had met before, and that I already had taken a portrait of her! That's a bit embarrassing! And hence the title ( I don't have a photographic memory). But in my defence, she did look a bit different last summer when we met at the Cruiser Meet. And she herself said " I probably had red hair that time", but that wasnt the case, but her friend Sandra did. Anyway, since we met Madde has been busy partying the weekends away on a number of Silja Line cruises. Arranged by the Bandit radio Station. And the next cruise, Se7en deadly sins on M/S Silja Galaxy was planned for the day after we met. The cruise is a non stop party with live bands and I hope it was a fun weekend Madde!

The Roads Less Travelled

As you probably know by now, I use my bicycle to get around. And here are two recent photos from a couple of bike trips around Haninge. The top photo shows Tjursta in Österhaninge. According to the latest version of the local bike map you can follow this gravel road all the way to the seaside resort Dalarö. A great idea as the traffic on the main road can be a bit hectic. Unfortunately I had to turn around a kilometre from here, because of the very rocky road, but I will try again later. If you live locally and need directions, you turn off the Dalarö Road at the Valsta Runestone.



Second photo shows the Hemfosa Horse Farm at Hemfosa. And if you take this very old and bumpy gravel road, that starts in Tungelsta, it will take you all the way to the impressive gates at the Häringe Castle. The historical old castle is situated on a peninsula with a nature reserve and is well worth a visit. And there's absolutely no traffic here if you don't count the odd horse back riders!

Where's the fish?

This is Alexander. He was fishing from the board walk at Lower Lake Rudan in Handen when I met him. He is from Upplands Väsby (North of Stockholm). He and his wife (the heavily pregnant woman far away to the right), found out about this fishing lake via a internet forum and decided to give it a go. As we don't have a car, it seemed the perfect place with the commuter station so near Alexander told me. They are both students, have two kids with a third on the way. Alexander studies computer science at the Stockholm University, and will be able to work as a Systems Architect in the future. Unfortunately for Alexander he didn't have any fishing luck, but the wife (a certified nursing assistant studying to be a nurse), had already caught two or three fishes, so we know who the fishing expert is in this family!

The Antiques Barn

In need of some unique gift baskets? Or anything vintage or retro? Then this is probably the place for you. I visited the Antiques Barn at Vega in Handen the other day. Majsa and Åke are the two people that run the place since July last year. The barn has an interesting history. Before it was turned into a antiques barn it stood empty for half a century. Before that it was used by the military for many years as a storage building. And before that the building belonged to a nearby farm,The Söderby Farm in Handen that dates back some 400 years. Two hundred years ago a mill was built here. Next to the mill two other buildings were constructed at the same time. The millers cottage and the granary. Although some people say that the cottage is 400 years old. Today that building is rented by Carlo Taccola who owns the famous Vegabaren across the street. If you missed my photos from the fun meet there last summer press here to see those portraits and photos. Anyway this is how the granary looks today. I had a look around and although I didnt buy anything I did find a few things worth photographing. Oh, and if you wonder about the mill itself it was destroyed in a fire some 25 years ago.

Setting The Stage

I had seen a few people painting a lot of objects blue here at Allevägen in Tungelsta for a few days, and so I decided to stop and ask what was going on. Turns out that Frida, who has been working as a decoration painter for twenty years, was busy fixing a set that will be used when the Folkoperan in Stockholm sets up the a modern version of the opera Les pêcheurs de perle, or The Pearl Fishers. Apparently the stage is supposed to be a landfill. Frida has a flickr set with a few photos showing some of her work. Her next job is to fix the set for a theatre version of the popular sit com Svensson, Svensson, that will play at Krusenstiernska Gården in Kalmar over the summer.

Shadow Figure

My preferred way of transportation is the bicycle. It keeps you fit. You don't travel at a very high speed, so you don't miss much around you which is very good if you are a keen photographer. One of the things I'm always looking for when I'm out with the camera are cool shadows. I sometimes shoot from the bike, but for this cool theme day shot I walked up on a hill and aimed the camera down towards the man on the bike.

Today is theme day and the theme this month is shadows. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants