Posing with Zorro

I have photographed quite a few people with dogs in the last few years and yesterday it was time for another such photo. I spotted Jenny with her white sunglasses in Västerhaninge. She was on her bike, and Zorro the German shepherd was walking next to her when I rode up on my new bike next to them and asked for a portrait. Jenny moved to Haninge from Huddinge one year ago. Her big hobby now is, as you can probably guess, dogs. She has two of her own, but Zorro belongs to a couple of friends. Years ago Jenny enjoyed horse back riding, but these days she's more into painting. That's all the facts I managed to get Jenny to reveal about her self.

Lines and Curves

If you are a keen cyclist and live in Haninge you will recognise this. It's the steep climb along Dalarövägen at Åva. I shot this last week when I visited the old farm at Högsta where I photographed the collapsed barn. Oh, and before you ask it's not tire tracks on the road it's the shadows from the power lines. To see a color version use the Time Machine.

Translations for higher resolutions

How do you get to the centre of art? That's a good question, and one that Jennifer Rainsford is trying to get an answer for. She is one of three artists working on the newest art project in Haninge. It is called Konsten i Centrum. Which is a bit of a word play. Art in the (Shopping) Centre might be a possible English translation. The first part of the project is called Translations for higher resolutions. It is choreographed by Rainsford who received the Haninge Art Stipendiary last year. She is currently a student at The Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm. A few people had gathered at the mall on Sunday to see the art project get under way, but I'm guessing that most of the onlookers where a bit surprised when all of a sudden a number of people began to sing, (or at least to hum), near the Taco Bar. To (perhaps), better understand what was going on I have translated a description of the choirs performance:

Using a pattern of rubber tiles on the floor, a sound is created when the choir moves over the floor to the different tiles. Pictures and sound created by people is connected with social status according to the artist, who asks what might happen if old pictures and sounds are created in a new context.

If you want to see a few more photos from this happening check out the slideshow below.

The Nature of Listening

A wildlife encounter in a forest in Tungelsta. A female roe deer standing there listening. When it noticed me it walked away slowly and didn't seem to be bothered with me being there.

And then the roof caved in

Back in June last year I visited the old farm at Högsta for a photo-op together with my friend Jim. We had a look around the old farm and it's surroundings. The old barn is filled with interesting stuff. It belongs to Rolf Norlin and his wife. They live down the road at the Hammarby Farm. Most of the stuff in here belongs to an old guy in Handen called Engström. He left the things there some 25 years ago when the previous owner still lived at the farm. Earlier this winter the barn collapsed because of the pressure from all the snow. I was informed of that when I met and photographed Jonas back in January. And yesterday I took the bike down to Högsta for a closer look. I didn't walk into the barn as it looked a bit unsafe. I talked to Rolf last year and mentioned that he should perhaps give away the threshing machine to the agricultural museum at Berga. I hope he had time to do that. Oh, and the second photo here is a panorama made from eight photos. Shot from a hill just behind the old barn. To see a few more photos from the visit last summer check out this slideshow.

The Man in the Tower

All of a sudden I heard someone shouting, but I couldn't figure out from where the sound came. Looking around I noticed a few people staring up to the roof of City Hall. And there he was. The man in the tower. Climbing high up in the cell tower. Must have been a technician fixing something. Another worker was standing on the roof, but I have no idea what they talked about, but it made for a few good photos so who cares!

Skywatch Friday.

The Poser

From a distance I noticed this Jack Russel Terrier playing with a pine cone while balancing on the green bench, and I figured that would be a fun portrait, especially as the bench was surrounded by snow. The poser is called Vincent, and his proud owner goes by the name of Ulrika. She works at a book store here in Handen, where they sell student course books. We talked a bit about books and while I still read my novels, Ulrika mostly listens to them while driving. I mentioned a few previous portraits with cool coincidence's and while doing that The Dude passed by on his bike just to prove my point that it really is a small world after all.

The New Biofuel Plant

Quite a few changes since I last showed you a photo from the new power plant. At the moment 145 construction workers are busy building Vattenfall's biofuel power plant in Jordbro. It will be finished later this year. These two photos are from two visits last week. Some info in English about how a biofuel plant works if you follow this link. Or if you understand Swedish, you can read the project manager, Anders Agebro's diary here.

Meanwhile down at the beach

Not much was happening. But it was a beautiful and sunny day, and that counts at least in my book. I'm reading Filth by Irwine Welsh at the moment.

Sebbe and Linda

I met Sebbe and Linda at the Jordbro commuter station and asked them if I could take a portrait. It took us a minute to realise that I had met and photographed Sebbe before. I didn't recognize him, but I think I'm excused as he looks a bit different today. Sebbe plays in a band called Zombie Space Pirates and I think he looks the business! His girlfriend Linda is a student. A future Socionom. She is also a keen photographer and when I met them she was going to shoot some photos of the Zombie Space Pirates in their studio.

A Young Family

I met a very young AIK fan in Handen on Saturday. Her name is Nora. Her parents are called Joakim and Linn. They were on their way to the library at the Cultural Centre where they planned to read some books for young Nora. The family comes from Visby on Gotland. For the time being Linn lives here in Handen as she is a student at the Södertörn University. She is a future deaf interpreter. Joakim who lives with Nora on Gotland works as a mail man. I asked them where I should go on my next visit to Gotland, and they suggested two places.Dalhem, and Nabben, (a small fishing village at När).

The Crew Commander and the Fire-Fighter

The Crew Commander (to the right), and one of the fire fighters. There was a fire at one of the restaurants at the mall in Handen this morning. The employees managed to stop the fire, but the fire-fighters had to go back a couple of times as there was a problem with the ventilation system. I heard the news on the radio, and when I checked my flickr friend Jim's photos he had a photo from the mall. As I arrived a few hours later fire-fighters were still at the scene. I talked a bit with the fire-fighters and the Crew Commander and they said that everything was under control.

That Old Tree

Guess where I have been? That's right, another promenade to the old tree at Välsta! My last winter visit a month ago was tough, as I should have used snow shoes. This time around it was easier. The snow was very hard, but as you can guess it was also more icy. No one around, and it doesn't look like there has been any horseback riders here for a while. No news yet about the big racecourse that is planned for this area, hopefully it will not happen.


Skywatch Friday

The Fire Bugs Are Back!

The Fire Bugs are back! And that is another sign of Spring! I noticed them as I took out the bike from the cellar a couple of days ago. They live in a tree trunk next to the house. It's one of my favorite insects. Their Latin name is Pyrrhocoris apterus. The bugs are quite small, between 8 and 30 millimetre. They feed on lime tree and mallow. They often move in big clusters, and mate in tandem formation for up to a week! You can see some more photo in the slideshow below.

The Frozen Bay

I took the bike down to my favorite beach the other day. This is Hårsfjärden, part of the Baltic Sea, where the Swedish military chased those subs back in the 1980's. In a few months time people will be jumping into the sea from this dive tower which is hard to believe looking at it now. It's also hard to tell the icy and snowy pier from the frozen bay. On my visit I was hoping to find a few ice fishers, like on my visit three years ago, but there was no one around. If you want to, you can walk across the bay, there was a cool photo in my morning paper yesterday, taken a bit south from here where a man was biking across the bay!

Where's the Fish?

It's not a real winter without a few photos of the local ice fishers. So here are two guys I met at Lake Rudan on Saturday. Top photo shows Leif Lundin. Leif and the guy on the second photo are both members of the Lilla Fiskelyckan. That translates to The Small Fish Luck Club. But they had no fishing luck at all on this occasion, although they did plant some Rainbow trout in the lake later that afternoon. But as it was a beautiful day who really cares, fishing is really more of a social thing. Leif and Christer (whom I met and photographed here one year ago), told me a little about the ice situation here. First there's a very thin layer of ice, around five centimetres. Then there's maybe 15 centimetres of water, and then another ice layer. That second layer of ice is a bit thicker, around 30 centimetres. We also had time to talk a little about photography. Leif still has his old analogue Canon, but was thinking about going digital. I suggested an Canon Ixus or a Nikon Coolpix, so that he could document his possible future fish luck!

A lazy Day at the Lake

This must be the perfect way to spend a sunny winter's day. Doing absolutely nothing. That is if you call suntanning nothing. This is Ida, Marcus and Marie-Louise. They were sitting on the frozen Lower Lake Rudan in Handen on Saturday. In front of them on the ice I spotted the leftovers from their lunch. Around them sat a few ice fishers, with no fishing luck what so ever. Not a bad way to spend a few hours, sitting on the ice, enjoying lunch, and each others company, while looking at the unlucky ice fishers.

The infamous Swedish Olympic hat!

During the recent Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver the Swedish Olympic crochet hat (designed by Eva Christensson),became incredibly popular. In Sweden the wool yarn needed to make it sold out in a few days, so my mothers attempt to make one for me failed. In case you would like to make your own I have a description here. Yesterday I spotted this guy wearing the hat so I stopped to ask where he got it from. This is Emil Fors from Haninge. His mother and his girlfriend bought the cap at the Stockholm International Fairs a while back. And it only costed them 150 SEK. So I'm a bit envious as I haven't been able to get one yet.

The Painter and the Dirt Rider

As it was a very sunny winter's day, (hence the squinting), I decided to go for a bike ride and shoot a few street portraits. This is Ida and Kalle. I noticed them walking hand in hand across a snowy lawn in Handen and figured they would be up for a portrait. Ida lives in Uppsala where the works with psychiatric service for the elderly. Ida is also an artist. She is a very good painter (her own description), and is hoping for an art career. Her boyfriend Kalle, recently moved to Haninge. He works as an automotive metalsmith. One of his hobbies includes motocross racing so I told him to check out the motocross circuit at Högsta.

The Unshovelled Alleyways

This is Färglådorna, (the color boxes). A housing area in Tungelsta built back in the early 1970's. It looks like the people that live here don't know how to use a snow shovel, or that they perhaps have shovelled enough snow for a few years already this winter. The alleyways here have names like Javelin Alleyway, Shot Put Alleyway and Hurdling Alleyway. I think this is an area where you have to get along with your neighbours as they live kinda close! Before this area was built there where a number of plant nurseries here. They are all gone now. The last one closed a few years ago. Remember that snowed in car I showed you a while back. It was parked next to Shot Put Alley on Runner's Path.


Skywatch Friday.

Double Trouble

As we are honouring Eric Tenin at Paris Daily Photo today I set out a take a photo in his style. As suggested by Kim in Seattle. And this is it. And it's a bit of a fun story here. I shot the top photo at Håga earlier today. The locomotive from Green Cargo had stopped at the pedestrian crossing because of trouble with ice and snow on the track. The driver could be seen and heard swearing further down the track. The second photo shows the same locomotive in Jordbro two days earlier where it had derailed!


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Is Spring here already?

Spotted these two guys, who works for the municipality, at the water and sanitation department, enjoying a cup of coffee in the winter sunshine at Åbyplan in Västerhaninge today. In my book that counts as a true sign of spring. Erik and Harry may not be as pretty as Charlotte whom I met here at the Kaffebönan cafe one year ago. But the interesting thing is that last years spring sign came ten days later, compared with this year. So after three long months of winter and snow, spring could be around the corner!

Oh, and it looks like we will have a few days of sunshine, but according to the weatherman more cold weather and snow is expected next week...

The Dancing Building

I have a few favourite places in Haninge when it comes to photography. This is one of them. I call it The Dancing Building. It's a big window at Campus Haninge in Handen which always gives this cool reflection. On this visit yesterday I noticed a group of workers shovelling snow half way up the façade and decided to move in for a few photos.


Short slideshow.

Sixteen Barrels of Emptiness

Walking through the Håga industrial area on Saturday I stopped outside Greif Sweden for a very artistic shot through the fence. The company manufactures steel drums of many different models (and colors) here. I believe this model is a 216,5 liter tight head steel drum, so now you know that! Greif Sweden are very concerned with environmental issues and are planning to heat the oven at the plant with pellets. The factory dates back to 1960 when it was known as Van Leer. Today around 30 people work here. The clever title of today's post is thanks to my flickr friend Jim.

Willys Overland

I noticed this old Willys Overland Jeep parked outside my barber's place the other day. Figured it would look good against the snow. Not sure about who owns it, but I have seen around many times. Could perhaps be a friend of Malin Bruce.

Lets Go Shopping

I was taking some photos at the Västerhaninge shopping centre the other day when two people came up and wanted to know if I was from the local paper. Before I had time to say no, they started complaining about the snow and ice situation here, and I can't blame them. Anyway, if you can't make your way into the shops and spend all your hard earned money, you could just stand there and admire the sculpture. It's called The Jester Group. The sculptor is Bror Marklund, and if you have been reading this blog lately you will be familiar with some of his work. Unfortunately the sculpture has been vandalized a bit. I'm not sure who is responsible for the art here, it's either the shopping centre, or the municipality.

A Falling Snow Cube

There's people up on every roof these days. Shovelling snow as best they can. One guy fell off a roof at Huggarvägen in Västerhaninge a couple of days ago. He had to be taken to hospital with an ambulance, but these guys at Ringvägen seemed to know what they were doing. I shouted to them that I was taking some photos, and they smiled for a bit before continuing with the snow removal business. This is one of many three story buildings in this area. I lived in an apartment here for a few years in the mid 1980's. I can't remember anyone shovelling snow from the roof back then.


Skywatch Friday.

Meanwhile, at the...

...Hopeful Cafe.

A year ago this was where I spotted the first sign of spring. Back then it was the beautiful Charlotte and her friends that caught my eye. Haven't seen anyone here this year, but at least there's some hope of spring!

The Inevitable

This was the old barn at the 700 year old Nödesta farm at Nedersta in Haninge. The farm land and the buildings are a leasehold estate owned by the municipality. The farmer Jan Claesson has operated the farm with his daughters for many years. This old barn has been on the brink of collapse for a few years now. Up until last fall the dog trainer Karin Mörling kept her sheep here. I'm glad she moved out in time. This was the scene at Nödesta earlier today. The barn has collapsed because of negligence and the one meter of snow we've had this winter. I have taken many photos here, the last one in May last year. Here is one with the magnificent tree and some of Karin's sheep. And here is a portrait of Karin and her sheepdog Ned, also taken at the old barn. So I guess there will be no more photo ops like when I shot the Sheep on the run here in the future.

How to Measure Snowfall

Jacob down in sunny Florida sounded a bit worried yesterday, wondering what had happened to all the snow here in Haninge. I assured him that the winter hadn't magically disappeared (although that would have been kinda cool). But I figured that the best way to prove to you that nothing has changed was to show you that by now very familiar winter chair that I have been using to accurately measure the snow depth with this winter. If you haven't seen it before be sure to check out the slide show below. I should also say that it has been snowing quite a bit since I took this photo.

Up the Spiral!

This futuristic looking green spiral is the passageway to and from the popular recreational area Lake Rudan in Handen. If you walk or bike up the spiral from here you will get to the commuter station (you can see part of the rail-track and platform on the second photo). If you continue past that entrance and walk through the green tunnel and climb up the stairs, you will find yourself at Rudsjöterrassen, where you can lunch at City Hall, where the lovely Nina works.


I should say that these two photos are from my flickr archive. Thanks for asking Jacob.

It's the first of the month and theme day, the theme for March is Passageway.

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