Ford Model A

Spotted this beauty in Tungelsta a while back. A-Ford from 1929. Shot in the Brenizer style. The owner, Tommy, wanted a copy, but I am yet to hear back from him. He had done a lot of work on the car in the last five years, mostly interior.

The Trendy Waiter

Johan was out on a promenade in the Spring sunshine when I stopped him in Handen and asked for a portrait. He works at O Learys, the sportsbar at the Haninge mall. It's a very busy time for the bar now with secondary school students partying like mad. When Johan isn't serving beers and what have you he is busy learning the art of tattooing, mostly on his friends! This is another Brenizer method portrait. 15 photos stitched together. Shot with the nifty fifty. Settings f.2. 1/3200.

In Disguise

There was an article in the local paper last week about the bad/poor mobile connection at the Tyresta national park. That problem has already been solved. On my most recent visit I spotted this mobile antenna in disguise. Placed on the top of the hill in the old village. Fourteen meters high and designed as a flag pole. I talked to one of the people that run the park, Anders something, and he told me that we will soon see the Tyresta flag blowing in the wind here. The old and much smaller flag pole to the right, will soon be removed.

The red makes it

It's that time of the year again in Sweden. Thousands of vintage cars will be out on the roads for the next six months. This Chevy belongs to Roger Odd, he was busy fixing his dads car when I spotted the Impala. Both photos shot using the Brenizer method.

Clara

Clara is the chairperson for Ung Vänster (Young Left), in Haninge. She told me a few facts about herself. She is a feminist. She reads feminist comics. She is currently taking a course in writing. So who knows,maybe she will make her own comic in the future?

The Race Car Driver

Tobias was out driving his Cobra convertible (a rebuilt Honda, imported at half price), and when he passed me on the road I noticed his orange shades. A little later I saw the car parked near the commuter station so I headed that way. Tobias turned out to be a race car driver. He competes in the Mazda MX-5 Cup. This will be his third season. If you want to see him drive, check out his you tube channel. The photo of the car is shot in the Brenizer style. So it is 14 photos stitched together.

The Law Student

Ellinor was easy to spot for several reasons. Lips. Nose ring. Outfit. Knit cap. Hair style. She was the first of the three girls I noticed on a bench at Poseidon's square in Handen. She is a secondary school student studying law. She lives at an old farm at the Gålö peninsula, and as I try to visit old farms every now and then I might visit Östra Bondäng later in the year, but it is a long bike ride from where I live. When it comes to hobbies Ellinor enjoys two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics. Just like Tove, Ellinor is a member of Young Left. Oh, and before you ask, the black knit cap was a gift from a few friends. The second photo is a Brenizer style portrait. It is 15 photos shot at f.2.

Edvin

This is Edvin. He lives at Dalarö. He is a bit mad about cars and his friends call him Bilsexuell. Bit of a word pun and tricky to translate, but Carsexual is the direct translation. He used to date Maia, a girl I photographed one year ago while she was performing with her band. Always fun when I can connect my strangers. Edvin is a future Maritime Engineering student at KTH in Stockholm. This is another Brenizer method portrait 18 photos shot at f.1.8.

The Football Fan

Micke was on his way to the commuter station when I stopped him. He recently moved to Handen from Rågsved. He is a big fan of the football club AIK, although he doesn't see all matches live these days. I figured him for a fan of Italian soccer because of his jacket, but that was just a logo

Tove

We had a fine Spring day on Saturday so I decided to go out and shot some street portraits. Arriving to Poseidon's square in Handen I spotted three young women sitting on a bench. All three members of the same political party. Ung Vänster, (Young Left). This is Tove. A university student, and a future socionom. I asked her if she had any fun hobbies or interests and she mentioned her political work. More portrait from today to come in the next few days.

The story of a German Krautrock Band

Unanticipated Technology was a German Krautrock band. They only recorded two LPs. The songs for their debut album Unplayed Recordings were written by the bands front man, Gunther Fenstermacher. He was a brilliant musician and composer, and could easily have played all the instruments on this record himself. But as most of the songs were recorded live in the No Sound Studio in Stockholm, in November of 1978, he decided to invite a few friends and that's how the short-lived band came to be. Gunther was the bands keyboardist. The singer was his younger brother Karlheinz Fenstermacher. On guitar was the playboy Dieter Hoffmann. The bass-player was Florian Nussbaum. And, on drums, the blind, but talented Hannes Wolf. In all, the band recorded only 25 songs. It only took the German group one week to record their first album, but they stayed in Stockholm a little longer. The reason for that were the background singers. Two sisters that the producer had called in when he needed some female vocals on Gimme Some Happiness. They were part of music collective and within two days Dieter and Florian had left the hotel they were staying at and had moved in with the two sisters in their huge apartment loft at Södermalm in the Swedish Capitol. Five thousand copies were made and distributed around Europe in the spring of 1979. The band took to the roads during the summer in Gunther’s red and white Volkswagen bus, and they played at a few small festivals. Travelling with the band were the two sisters, both now pregnant. The band had no chart success, but with the help of a German producer they were able to release their second album in 1981. And this time their luck changed as they were invited to several well-known festivals in both England and Scandinavia. By now Dieter was a rich young man, he had inherited a lot of money from his parents and decided to spend some of that money on his musical career. That meant that the band now travelled on the roads in a big Mercedes bus and could afford to stay at decent hotels if they wanted to. And as both Florian and Dieter now were the proud parents of baby girls they often stayed at up-scale hotels. The bands luck had been made after an appearance on a German TV show, and funnily enough it was a song (Green Piano), from their first album that now became a radio hit.After that successful summer the band decided to take a break. Dieter and his wife Sofia were on their way back to Stockholm when they collided with a truck near Hamburg. When the emergency services arrived to the scene of the accident the family of three was already dead. That was it for Unanticipated Technology. But today thirty years on the band has become cult. Previously unreleased songs and video from festivals and studio recording were released on a DVD a couple of years ago. The former band members have talked about a reunion, but that is unlikely to happen as the blind drummer, Hannes Wolf have been living as a Guru in India for the last 25 years. Last time I checked there were a couple of tribute bands out there performing UT songs. Florian and Johanna’s daughter Maria, who is a popular singer-songwriter in both Sweden Germany have recorded and performed a few songs from both UT albums. If you happen to own an original copy of the Unplayed Recordings LP like I do, count yourself lucky. There aren’t many good copies out there any more and they are very collectable. Today is Record Store Day.

Sixteen Recent Snaps VII

The Lolita and her dog in Västerhaninge. Yellow crocus blooming at Bergdalen. My sunglasses. Green woodpecker up a tree. Moa on a bench at Rudan. The Broddway cleaning the bike path. Two graffiti snaps from under the Krigslida bridge. Tussilago in Jordbro. Birches in water and ice at Nederstaleden. Two Tivoli photos from Västerhaninge. Roe Deer buck in the garden. Runestone at Kalvsvik. Fire bugs mating. 360 panoramic view of the old tree at Välsta.

After the rain

It rained for most of the day, from a very grey sky.But then in the late afternoon it stopped and a blue sky could be seen. That made both me and the scilla happy.

Unreadable Viking Era Message

One thousand years ago a local Viking decided to raise this runestone. That is a long time ago. It was important to him to let everyone know what had happened. Too bad we can't read it today. This is one of Haninge's forgotten runestones. You will find it at Lövhagen in Österhaninge. The runic inscription reads: Ödgunn and Arnggärd had this stone raised after their brother. The stone was discovered by the farmer Rickard Åkerblom back in 1956 when he was digging a ditch.

Moa

It was a beautiful day Sunday. Quite a few people at the Rudan nature reserve. Moa was sitting on a bench near the water enjoying the sunshine when I arrived. She is studying to become an occupational therapist, just like the Lolita that I met earlier in the week. Moa comes from Haparanda in the North of Sweden, but these days she lives in a student apartment here in Handen. When she's not tanning herself on the bench, chances are that you will find her either out jogging or working out at the gym. This is another Brenizer method portrait, fifteen photos stitched together. Shot with the nifty fifty at f.2.

Nice Day For It

I noticed many cyclists out on the roads on Sunday. Perfectly understandable as the weather was good for cycling. Around 10C and a blue sky, at least for a few hours. This is Martina, from Haninge and her bicycle buddy Thomas, from Huddinge. I met them at Lake Rudan where there's still some snow left on the paths. Looks like Thomas managed to follow Martina's advice to draw in' the stomach here! A few people decided to walk past them as I took the photos so I had them standing like this for nearly a minute.

Hall of Fame Student

Despite me ending the Winter two days ago, here is another winter portrait. Meet Mats Persson. PhD student at KTH. The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Hi is into data processing and reconstruction methods for photon counting spectral computed tomography! In other words, he is a clever guy. But he is very modest about it. Last year he received The Wallquist Study Medal for outstanding academic performance so you can now find him at the Hall of Fame. I met Mats near the old tree yesterday. He was out on what was probably the last ski run of the season. This is another Brenizer method portrait. I shot twelve photos, but in the end I only used eight.

That Old Tree

Horrible weather today. Gray skies. Maybe 3C. They say Spring will arrive tomorrow. I sure hope so. I made a bit stop at the old tree. Had to lively things up by shooting a 360 panorama.

A Tommy Nilsson Please

Last month most of the Swedish media had the same story on the front page. Former rocker Tommy Nilsson was changing his name to Black. He had turned fifty and needed a new image with his soon the be released new album. The next day it was revealed that it was all a ploy. Marabou's new licorice chocolate had the name Black. So since that day I always ask for a Tommy Nilsson when I want this chocolate.

Saying Goodbye to Winter

It's almost official. Winter is over for this time. But it isn't Spring just yet, at least not if you were to ask a meteorologist, so lets not do that. This past Winter was a hard one. It arrived in late November and now in mid-April it still feels and looks like Winter. But we have to close the door sometimes and today is that day. Here are most of my winter photos presented with the help of ImapFlickr. If you want to you can scroll through all snaps and see a larger version of the photo while reading the description.

The Sanda Estate

This is an old estate in Österhaninge, known as Sanda. I visited Sanda last summer together with Karin Aspberg from the local historical association. I took exterior and interior photos for a book about the farms in this part of Haninge while Karin interviewed the owner Pontus Braunerhielm. I received my copy of the book last week. In it you can read a lot about the history of this estate and the families that have lived here, including the Braunerhielm clan. The name Sanda dates back to 1362. A runestone was discovered here around 1850 and today it stands in the garden. I have a lot of photos from this part of Haninge in a flickr set called Vikingland and I'm trying a new Google map feature, so if you are interested try it out and tell me how it works. You can scroll through the photos, look at them large and also read the facts right here. Very clever idea if you ask me.

The Lolita

I noticed a splash of pink today. It was Emelie out walking her dog in Västerhaninge. She is studying to become an occupational therapist, and is working as a Nursing Assistant. Emelie has a big interest in Lolita Fashion, and had we met later in the day she would have been dressed like a Lolita, hence the title. I decided to shoot a Brenizer portrait of her so this is 12 photos taken with the nifty fifty lens. When the photo session was over Emelie told me that we had met before! That is always a bit embarrassing, but she did look a bit different when we first met four years ago.

Sixteen Recent Snaps VI

Another sixten snaps from around Haninge. 100 000 violets blooming in the Blomorado greenhouses. Maia at the Rudan Nature Reserve. Lost&Found. Bork on the neighbors veranda. Jösses, horror punk band drummer. Tree lined avenue at Nödesta. Gustavsson's place along Södertäljevägen in Tungelsta. The old couple. Raggarbil of the day. Wooden bridge at Slätmossen. The old tree from the other side. Tussilago! Birch forest near Lillsjön. Fire bugs enjoying the sun. Vattenfall not saving any energy the day after Earth Hour. Roe Deer butt at Bergdalen.

Roe deer buck

Roe deer buck keeping one eye on the photographer while trying to find something to eat.

That Old Tree

If you want to believe the meteorologist we can expect snow come the weekend. I hope they are wrong. Since it's the weekend and you have nothing better to do I added the slideshow with all the photos from the old tree.

A look into a greenhouse

Spring has been delayed this year. Yesterday I heard the meteorologist talk about a possible snow fall in the Stockholm area come the weekend. I hope I heard that wrong. This was greenhouse number six at Blomorado in Tungelsta two days ago. In total they have 100 000 violets waiting for Spring there.

Spring

Fuck Frankie

Who's Frankie I hear you ask. Well in this case it's the name of the horror punk band Fuck Frankie where Jösses Trashy Roxtar plays the drums. That's not a bad name for this punk drummer as he has that trashy look.I met him in Jordbro yesterday. When I noticed him I had a feeling that he was a musician. He has played at most local music scenes since around 1989. I mentioned that I have coffee with Tompa Eken most every week and Jösses told me that he considers Eken to be a legend. If you wan't to hear a song from the CD that Jösses gave me you can do so here. I shot the portrait using the Brenizer method, so this is eight photos taken with my 50mm lens, and then stiched together for that very narrow depth of field.

Maia

This long winter hasn't been very good for my street portrait collection. Too cold and snowy for that, but when I arrived to the Rudan nature reserve yesterday I noticed the beautiful Maia and knew that I had to ask her for a portrait. Maia works as a freelance editor, compositor and photographer. Originally from Linköping she now lives in Handen. We talked a bit about photography and the cameras she works with. On her free time chances are that you might find Maia at the gym working out.

Mrs. Walkman

The traditional Swedish traffic sign for a pedestrian crossing was the silhouette of a man crossing a road. The sign was also a word pun. The phrase Här Går Man (you walk here),can also be read and pronounced like: Herr Gårman, which means Mr. Walkman. It has often been used to teach kids about the traffic rule. Having only a man on the sign was too much for some people so a couple of years ago we got a new sign. Fru Gårman. Mrs. Walkman. No pun in that name I'm afraid. But we have seen some humour recently. In Uppsala just North of Stockholm they had to remove the new signs as Mrs. Walkman had a skirt that was too short. The horror! This is how the sign is supposed to look. This is the new bridge at Krigslida. I took this snap standing on the crossing back in December when the bridge was yet to open for traffic. The guy walking over the bridge is one of the workers who informed me that they were ahead of schedule. Theme Day. Pedestrian Crossing.