Saint Lucy and her Brides

We celebrate Saint Lucy's Day today. And here is the 2009 National Lucia Bride, Sofia Högmark, surrounded by her six maids. They are Hannadi El Assir, Maria Arvinder, Anna Ekman, Ann-Sofie Larsdotter,Elin Klingfors and Emma Fagerström. It's a busy time for the girls with appearances all over the country, but they did have time to pose for a few photos after their performance in Västerhaninge today, where they sang Christmas Carols before a big crowd. I told them that I would leave a comment at Sofia's blog so that they would know where to see the photos and that seemed to cheer them up a bit! The official crowning took place at Skansen in Stockholm a few hours after I met the girls. In a few days time they will leave Sweden and fly south to Italy where they will visit Syracuse from were the tradition originates.

The Jazz Singer

As I was watching the 2008 Lucia Emma Johansson, perform with her maids at the shopping centre in Västerhaninge on Saturday, I spotted a very pretty Santa in the crowd. She turned out to be a jazz singer. This is Ulrika Goliats Fredriksson. She lives in Tungelsta and works as a salesperson. Her big passion is music. On this day she was singing with a band, The Anders Lindgren's Quartet. They played a few typical Christmas songs before and after the performance from the Lucia. In between gigs I got a chance to talk to her. As we started to chat the band leader, Anders Lindgren closed in on us and wanted to know from what paper this photographer came from! This is a busy season for Ulrika. Earlier in the week she performed for the Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt at the parliament building Rosenbad in Stockholm. It was a private affair with only the PM's closest advisor's. Next week she will be performing at the Ministry of the Environment. Ulrika also plays in a band called Stay Up and they play cover songs from the sixties and forward. After taking a few photos I stayed around and listened to a few songs and all I can say is that the girl can sing!

As I really enjoyed the 100 Strangers Project, I have decided to continue with that type of portraits. And this is fifth in the series.

Lucia Bride of Sweden

This is Emma Johansson from Örkelljunga in Skåne. She has been crowned the 2008 Lucia Bride of Sweden as we celebrate Saint Lucy's Day. Emma visited the Christmas Market in Västerhaninge on Saturday with her Lucia maids as they sang the traditional songs in front of a capacity crowd at the shopping centre. After the performance they headed off to Skansen in Stockholm for the traditional celebration that takes place there every year.