I took the bike down to Välsta yesterday. Closing in on the old tree I ran into my friend Bird Man. We decided to park the bikes and go for a walk in the rural landscape. A few tractors were out on the fields, and the farmers where busy wrapping hay bales in plastic film. We walked over to one of the blooming canola fields at the Nödesta farm. Bird Man figured he could use some portraits for his Facebook site so I grabbed the camera and started shooting. The butterfly is a Small Tortoiseshell.
On my way home from documenting a semi-abandoned farm the other day, I noticed this 1968 Beetle with a Lucky-13 Spade Skull theme. So I had to stop and grab a few images.
Dressed in black and with black hair. But the first thing I noticed about Nora was her pink sunglasses. We met near the commuter station in Handen yesterday, only meters from where I photographed the Phantom earlier this year. As I was asking her a few questions one of her friends turned up. Nora is a local girl. She works as a PA for Meter TV. She enjoys drawing and photography so I told her to open a flickr account.
One of my hobbies is to visit local farms. One reason for that is that they are disappearing one by one so they need to be documented. This is rural Skarplöt near Fors in Västerhaninge where a new residential area with 600 houses is under construction. The farm dates back to at least 1724. It is today owned by Nils Pettersson and his wife Anna-Britta, whose family have lived here since 1734. I took my bike down to Skarplöt a while back and knocked on their door. They invited me in, and Anna-Britta gave me a tour of their house. It was like stepping back in time some 70 years or so. The couple bought Skarplöt in 1962 from Anna-Britta's father. He was a local politician, just like my grandfather. Anna-Britta told me that she had a few photos of my grandparents. A friend from the historical association has promised to get me some copies of those photos later. Eleven years after buying Skarplöt Nils and his wife were full time farmers with 25 to 30 dairy cattle. Nils retired from farming in 2002 when he was 79 years old. Most of the buildings here are from the turn of the last century. After our chat I went for a photo stroll around the farm. If you understand Swedish you can read an interview with Nils here.
This is the board. The guy in the hat with the moustache is the chairman. His name is Kjell Kronqvist. I met the board at a recent visit to the art gallery in Österhaninge, when I had a closer look at the 2011 Art Promenade. The theme this year is Meetings. This artwork was made by Marie-Anne Kronqvist, who is married to the chairman. This was made as a bit of a joke, at least that is what Marie-Anne told me. When it's windy the heads of the board members go back and forth, like they are all agreeing with the chairman! I will show you a few more sculptures from this years promenade in the coming weeks.
After the traditional dancing around the Midsummer Pole at the park in Jordbro yesterday, I decided to go around and shoot some candid portraits. These are the ones that I liked the most. Two young girls from different backgrounds having some fun. One jumping for joy while the other one takes her photo. A little later they go through the photos. You can of course see all the photos in the slideshow that I posted yesterday.
Midsummer is the most important weekend in Sweden. I visited the Midsummer celebrations that took place in the park in Jordbro earlier today. A few hundred people had gathered to dancing around the Midsummer Pole and listen to live music. There was also a lot of fun for all the kids. Here is a slide show with a few photos. I will add more photos later and you will be able to all of them in the slideshow.
This is Åke Rhudin. Journalist, author, historian, storyteller, postman and more. Whenever you meet him you can expect to hear a few true (and funny) stories. Here is one. Delivering mail to the Almåsa Conference Centre, which is operated by Iris, a group for the visually impaired, on a very warm day, Åke can feel that the staff are staring at him. He was treated to coffee at another house, and the coffee pot must have had had soot on it. Now all that soot is covering his face. He is offered a chance to take a shower and quickly accepts. Opening a door in the shower room he finds a sauna and decides to use it. Opening another door a little later, he finds himself at the indoor swimming pool. It is filled with blind people so Åke decides to go for a swim despite being in the nude. When he enters he informs everyone who he is. As he leaves the pool he suddenly decides to do the dick o copter! Six months later, back at the conference centre he is told that a group of people would like to meet him. That's when he realised that the people in the pool six months earlier were not blind at all, but a group of people from the Swedish social insurance agency and now as they are back at Almåsa they want to see what the mail-man looks like when he is not naked! They also tell him that the story of the naked mail man doing the dick o copter has spread around the world!
A while back I was having coffee at my favorite cafe when two guys in a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo drove up the road. They tried their best to act as cool as possible. I think that's one of the rules when you own a Supercar. But when they drove away a few minutes later they actually waved to the photographer. As far as I know there are only 180 Lamborghini's in Sweden. Oh, and if you have to ask how much it cost, chances are you can't afford it.
Whenever I visit a festival or any other fun event I always try to shoot a few candid portraits. Here are two such snaps from the classic car meet at Torvalla. Two couples holding hands.
Spotted these girls in Västerhaninge a couple of days ago (hard not to). On their way to Plattan at Sergels Torg in Stockholm. This is Lina and Fanny. Lina is dressed as the character Luki from the Manga series Dogs. Her friend Fanny as Elizabeth from Black Butler. Lina told me that it was the third time she is dressed up like a anime character. For Fanny it was her firs time. They weren't going to a convention, just meeting other cosplayers at the square.
Two very different Volkswagens. The cool sports-car is a Porsche replica, built from a Volkswagen 1200 from 1965. The second photo shows a 1960 Beetle convertible. The woman behind the wheels is called Elisabeth. She works at my favorite cafe in Handen. The car is in mint condition and belongs to her son.
Are you looking to buy a new car? Something practical for the whole family to enjoy? Why not go for the 2009 Calambo. It's the only one of its kind. Not sure what it is? It's a replica of a Lamborghini Countach. The engine comes from a Rover. The gearbox from a Renault. The rest of it you build yourself.
I first saw Tess at a summer festival in Brandbergen on Saturday when she was singing with a band called Doktor Krall. They play music from the 1950s and 1960s, and she joined them on stage for a few songs. Imagine my surprise the very next day when I noticed her walking towards a classic car meet in Handen. I stopped and told her that I had taken a few photos of her the day before. She recognised me and told me that she was singing with the same band at this event as well. An our or so later I spotted Tess talking to Rune Thorsell, a guy I have met at a number of events before. He owns a few very cool cars and motorcycles, and Tess now asked me if I could take some photos of her in front of his Ford Crown Victoria. As she posed a helicopter took off and the wind moved her dress around a bit, and that's when I took this photo that Tess now have decided to buy. I really like coincidences like this one.
I visited a car show over the weekend. A fun event with sport cars, classic cars, unusual cars and also of course, the odd Raggarbil, which is what you are looking at here. It's a very Swedish subculture. People with a love for the US, and especially the cars and the music from the 1950s to the early 1970s. If you would like to read more about this subculture, try this article from guardian.co.uk. The guy you see here is Jonne Engström who was one of the co-drivers in last years season of Sweden's Worst Driver. In a few weeks time the world's largest classical car meet will take place in Västerås like it does every year. More facts at the official web site for The Big Power Meet.
The last day of the school year is always a big day in anyone's life. I was in Handen when I met the five girls of summer on the top photo. They had been to a school graduation ceremony where students, teachers, parents and relatives are all dressed up, and where a few summer songs are sung, including everyone's favorite, Ida's Summer Song. From left to right: Celina, Riisa, Carolin, Thea and Helena. The two girls on the second photo graduated from the Fredrika Bremer secondary school last Friday. I don't know them, but I was in the area when I heard a lot of screaming and shouting, so I decided to stick around for some fun photos. If you are curious why they are standing in front of a truck, check out my Schools Out set.
A Summer wedding is never wrong. I happened to be at a gallery garden a while back on a day when at least three couples decided to get married in the Medieval church in rural Österhaninge. On the first photo you can see Rickard and Anneli Furustad from Trollbäcken happily posing with their two kids for their official wedding photographer, and me. It was the warmest day of the year so far, and the sun was shining from a clear blue sky, so they really picked the right day for the wedding. I walked over to the next couple and asked if I could get a photo, their wedding photographer muttered something that I took as a yes. The third wedding couple arrived to the garden as the second couple was still being photographed, and the muttering photographer told everyone that this was his area, his social talents is something he needs to work on, but he sure was dedicated. I grabbed my third photo from a table at the gallery garden where I was having coffee. Congrats to all three couples. If you would like to see photos of the old church, check out my flickr set.
Spotted this guy in Jordbro on Saturday. He was lost. And late for a meeting down at my favorite beach Årsta Havsbad, so I decided to help him out. This is Bo Dellensten. He works as a traffic consultant. His company has worked with many municipalities in the greater Stockholm area, including Huddinge Tyresö and Nacka, but not Haninge, at least not yet. Bo is obviously a keen cyclist (despite not owning a bike map over Haninge). But he did have a GPS mounted on the bike. He has used this recumbent bicycle for a number of years. It's a Dutch made bike, a M5 20-20. Bo also has a web site about cycling, called www.cykelguiden.nu/. He has worked as a journalist and written a few books about cycling.
I visited a Summer Festival on Saturday. In Brandbergen. That's where I met Jacob and Åsa. Two police officers working from the Brandbergen station. It was a warm and sunny day, and everyone seemed happy, so it wasn't a very hard day for the officers. But they were in fact bribed during the day. I happened to overhear that conversation, so I demanded the same bribe, and a minute later we were all enjoying a free ice cream! I also met the new Mayor Martina Mossberg and we talked about politics for a while. I mentioned that I would blog about the festival and Martina told me that she had seen some of my photos. Two good bands were playing. Indoors you could listen to The Taxi Stand Steel Band. I have seen them before and they are always fantastic. The other band I saw was Doktor Krall. They play music from the 50s and 60s. They were joined by a singer called Tess Mercedes. Everyone gets hungry during a festival so there was a BBQ run by a local association called Samarkand. They got a bit exited when they noticed my camera, and a bit disappointed when I wasn't shooting for a newspaper. You could also enjoy African food. I took a portrait of a young man called Hesam, he is a police volunteer and a future police offer, we discussed photography which is one of his new hobbies. I also snapped a photo of a colorful clown who was busy making balloon animals for visiting kids. To see all photos (including a mishap for the police offocers), check out the slideshow above.
This is a teenager that is hard to miss. Steffi is a secondary school student from Tungelsta. She plays the drums in a pop punk band called Trimmad Rullator (The Tuned Walker). Two years from now when she graduates from school she will probably start working as an assistant in a tattoo studio called PMS. Oh, and yes Julie, Steffi told me that she already have four tattoos. Not bad for a sixteen year old girl.
Whenever I pass by Årsta Castle in Österhaninge I can see (and hear), a flock of birds. It's a group of Northern Lapwings that seem to spend a lot of time on a field in front of the castle. This time I decided to stop and grab a few photos. The birds apparently knew what I wanted because they started circling above me as soon as I reached for the camera.
I believe that we all have a bit of an extrovert in us. When I spotted Robin in Handen a few days ago I figured him for one. He was on his way home from work. He works as a builder, and I wasn't all that surprised when he told me that he spends a few hours at the gym every week. But he said that the only reason he wasn't wearing a shirt was because of the warm weather.
Time for another Different Seasons diptych. Two years separate these two photos that show the winding dirt road that leads down to the Stadsberga village in rural Haninge. I shot the left part of the diptych in late July of 2009. The photo to the right is from this past weekend. On a fun note, as I took that photo a cyclist came towards me. He stopped, and we started to talk about how much fun it is to ride your bike on these old roads. Ten minutes later we were having coffee (me), and a hot dog (the former postman), at one of the four golf clubs in this area. He knew practically every road around here and told me about a shortcut that I will have to try sometime this summer.
Summer is here, and down at my favorite beach I met Rickard and Emelie. They are originally from up North in Sundsvall, but are now living in an apartment at Södermalm in Stockholm. Rickard is a craftsman and Emilie works in retail. Both of them are former football players, but have given up the sport now. Emelie was a centre back in a second division team so she must have been a good player. Rickard spends a lot of time in the gym these days. After I had taken a few photos they were happy to get back up on dry land again as the water here in the Baltic Sea is still a bit on the cold side!
We celebrate the National Day of Sweden today so I figured I would show you something typical Swedish and also the Swedish colors of blue and yellow. I took these photos over the weekend. What you see here are the blooming canola fields from Årsta Säteri. The picturesque village in the background is called Stadsberga.
I recently met two tourists in Handen. Roland and Theresa from Switzerland. They are out on a seven week long bike ride through Northern Europe. They arrived to Sweden one month ago, only to head over to Finland. They told me that it had been very cold over there. Now they were on their way to the ferry port in Nynäshamn, from where they will travel by boat over to Gotland. From there they will go back to the main land via Oskarshamn, and from there they will ride south to either Ystad or Malmö before heading back home. Roland has a bad back so they change bikes every now and then.
We play Thrash metal with a touch of Folk music. That's how Oscar explained how his band, Rage Invest sounds. I met him outside the mall in Handen and I knew when I saw him that he was a musician. If you are unsure how Thrash metal with a touch of Folk music sounds, check out the bands MySpace site. Oscar plays the bass guitar. The guys have their own portable studio and play live every now and then. They missed out on a gig in the park in Tungelsta last summer, so I told them to try again this year. When Oscar isn't recording with Rage Invest he works as a personal assistant.
I guess I should start a new Please Remove This Vehicle Campaign as the last one I did worked out fine, although it took quite some time. A little over a week ago three cars burned in Handen. Two of them at a parking lot at Tuvvägen. And on the same night this car (along with a moped), was nicked, dumped and burned at a popular path in the nature park Slätmossen, a park I often visit. I contacted the municipality and got a quick responce from a journalist working there. He informed the new landscape architect about this (the previous architect has retired, but when I visited the park yesterday, the car wreck was still there in the middle of the path, but the moped was gone!
Summer is here and everywhere you look there's another pretty girl. This is Johanna, from Nynäshamn, and Malin who lives in Handen. They will graduate from secondary school in little over a week. They have studied nursing, but after the second year (of three), they realised that that was not what they wanted to work with in the future! The girls are mad about fashion and spends a lot of time styling their friends. They are big fans of Elin Kling, who you can learn more about here. In the near future Malin and Johanna are planning to get a job in the fashion industry, probably starting out in a boutique somewhere. But next up for the girls are a trip to the Mediterranean. They were thinking about Greece, and I suggested my favorite Greek Isles Ios.
The colorful parrot resting on Sandra's shoulder listens to the name Kompis (Buddy in English). I spotted the parrot at a bus stop yesterday and decided to stop for a chat and a photo. The dude in the sunglasses is Sandra's boyfriend Pasi. They have been together for a few years. Both are born and bred in Haninge, although Pasi lived in Skogås for a while. Sandra is a hobby photographer so I told her about the advantages with flickr. Pasi told me that they travelled to Finland with Kompis last summer. The parrot decided to stay up in a tree and quickly became a big hit with the local squirrels!
