The Light at the End of the Tunnel

This is the view from the pedestrian tunnel under the motorway at Kalvsvik. Used mainly by horse back riders and the odd photographer. I came from the Österhaninge side on this visit. I have previously showed you a lot of things from this part of Haninge. Including the Swimsuit Model. A house high up on a hill. A field of Yellow. And the Unicorn Sign, just to mention a few.


Skywatch Friday.

The Beret Wearers

Meet Ebbe. He is the little guy with the red cap. Ebbe is ten month old. His dad is called Patrik and he is a stay-at-home-dad for the time being. He is also a slöjdare,(a craftsman) and Patrik sells most of his stuff via the SHR stores. Ebbe's mother Kerstin, is studying to become a teacher. The family of three lives in Linköping. Today they were visiting Ebbe's grandfather, (Kerstin's dad). He is the cool guy with the red pants. His name is Gunnar. He is retired since October of last year, but for fifteen years he was the supervisor at the post museum in Stockholm. He lives at Segersäng in Nynäshamn. They were on their way to enjoy lunch at Paus at the Västerhaninge shopping centre,but when I noticed that they were all wearing berets I stopped them and asked for a portrait.

The Ukulele Man

Just a day after I met Adam and Annie at this bench that overlooks Lower Lake Rudan I met Jesper there, and I think he had seen them as well. We chatted away for quite a while. At the moment, Jesper, who has lived in Haninge for around five years is flipping burgers at McDonald's, but he has a very interesting dream. Eighteen months ago he bought his first ukulele. He has always been interested in music and with the ukulele that interest grew. Now he is hoping to travel around Europe and pay for the trip by busking! That sounds like quite a challenge. As we sat there talking about photography, music and fishing, one of the anglers (Russian or Polish), got lucky and caught a fish so I walked over and snapped a few photos of that.

Anonymous Girl

This is Malin. She was easy to spot with her beautiful red hair. I met Malin and her mother in Handen. They were on their way home from a visit to the Hammarby Horse Farm in Högsta. A farm that I have visited. It is owned by Rolf Norlin and his wife Tina. Malin helps out at the farm where she also often rides the horse Atina. I like it when I can link people like that. And when I mentioned the rock band I met the other day she obviously knew about them as well. Malin is a ninth grade student at Söderbymalmsskolan. Perhaps not a coincident, but I did meet that schools most famous student last summer. Come the fall she will be studying Japanese at the Tumba secondary school and is hoping to travel to Japan and study there in a not too distant future. Oh, and I took around ten photos of Malin, all very good, something that her mother and I agreed on, but Malin wasn't that sure.

Spring is for Lovers

As you can see we have had a few sunny spring days of late. Which means that I will focus more on portraits. This is Adam and Annie. I met them at Lake Rudan where they were enjoying the weather. Adam is reading the Bachelor of Science in Engineering program at KTH in Handen. His girlfriend, who is visiting from Nora, is a secondary school student. On her free time she plays innebandy for Nora IBK and scores goals like there's no tomorrow! Adam plays in a Metal/Hardcore band. They are called Illumineight.

As Cool As They Come

I met a rock band in Handen yesterday. Four very cool guys as you can see. They are called Self Deception. From left to right they are: Gabe (guitar and backup vocals), Niklas (base and backup vocals), Erik (drums), and Ante (lead vocals and guitar). They were on their way to rehearse when I met them. The band have released one CD, titled Restitution. If you have spotify you can listen to the album here. Be sure to check out some of their videos at You Tube.The album will also be available at cdon later. They have played at the Trädgårdsrock Festival in Tungelsta on three occasions so I have probably heard them quite a few times.

The Nanny

If I wanted to I could make a set called Dogs and their owners, and who knows, I might just do that some day. This is Maria. I noticed her in Handen today, near the mall. She was on her way out with her dog Luna, but had time to pose for a few quick portraits. As you can guess by the title Maria works as a nanny, or a barnflicka as one Swedish title would be. When she's not busy walking her dog, or nannying those kids, she's very likely to spend some time at the gym, working out. And that seems to be working just fine, as she really looks very fit. As does her dog, who really wasn't interested in posing for the photographer.

That Old Tree

It's Friday and time for another Skywatch post. Earlier this week I walked down the now snow-free and dry path to the old tree. Nice to see this view without all the white stuff on the ground. Believe it or not, but this is my 208th photo of this Swedish Whitebeam.

If you haven't been here before, or if you like me are a bit addicted to the oxel tree have a look at the slideshow.

Swimsuit Model of the Day

At the Kalvsvik Horse Centre I noticed this sexy babe posing on a ladder at the coffee veranda. She was dressed in her swimsuit and had her nails painted red. I decided to walk over for a chat. Unfortunately she wasn't very talkative. I asked if the water wasn't a bit too cold for a swim, but she didn't feel like talking. All I could get her to say was her name. So say hello to Rut, the Swimsuit Model of the Day.

Bite The Pillow, Honey!

This is a future indie rock star. So remember where you heard it first! His name is Jimmy Jansson. One of many musicians I have met since I started shooting street portraits. He plays the guitar and sings background vocals in the band Bite The Pillow, Honey! Jimmy lives in Handen, and is a member of the Musikcentralen in Tungelsta (as is Emil, and my brother btw). Every summer they arrange the Garden Rock Festival in the park in Tungelsta where I shot a cool photo last summer. So maybe you can hear Jimmy's band play there this summer. And if they need another band, they could ask Twopointeight to play. Or the Zombie Space Pirates.

Just a friendly game of boules

I met this group of pensioners in Handen on Monday. They all live at Lärkträdet, a housing cooperative, which consists of seven apartment buildings overlooking Lake Rudan. They were playing a game of boules, and I decided to shoot some photos of the action! The people you see here are in no particular order, Jochen, Inga-Britt,Gun, Ingegerd and Valle. We talked a bit about the game and I gave them one of my moo cards.

Stepping back in time

A (former), Scania firetruck from 1975 with a turntable ladder arrived to Blomorado in Tungelsta on Saturday. Which was like stepping back in time. I'm guessing most boys at one time may have wanted to become a fire fighter, or even a turntable ladder operator like the guy on the second photo. I remember these old trucks. They sure look very different compared to the modern fire trucks. It was a problem with the old brick chimney at Blomorado. It needed some fixing, and in just a few minutes the stonemason was busy doing his stuff. I'm not sure how old the chimney might be, but my great grandfather started this business here 100 years ago.

Woof!

I noticed two new Roundabout dogs in Handen the other day. So I stopped, jumped off the bike, and managed to run over the road and onto the grassy roundabout without being hit by a car. These dogs looked really Swedish with the flag and all. And the artist had written their url on the dogs. www.rondellhund.com/

At Ease

Have you ever met a Sjöbevakningsgruppbefäl before? That's what I did a couple of days ago in Västerhaninge. In fact I met three of them. Glenn, Nanette and Andreas. They are doing their National Service at the Haninge Garnison.The title means that they are in the Swedish Navy. This military trio did their recruit training last summer at the Karlskrona base where they spent three long months living in tents. Sounds like fun! They told me about one very long, tough and rainy weekend, and I'm very glad I wasn't there! Their job today is to monitor the Swedish territorial waters. They do that in 5-hour shifts. When I met them they had 68 days left of their National Service. And then it's MUCK! Which stands for everyone's favorite phrase: Militär Utryckning i Civila Kläder. Or in English Leaving the Military in Civilian Attire. I still remember they joy when I did that a few eons ago, so I know how they must be feeling.

Addicted Girl

I'm a big fan of certain Streetart styles. A cool stencil in the right environment is always interesting. I spotted this stencil, called Addicted Girl, on an old and white-painted door at a auto repair shop in Handen the other day. The artists signature says KLAB and that is short for Konfronterande lejon attackerar bovarna.Translated that would be something like Confrontational Lion Attacking the Crooks.

The Pipe Smoker

You don't see many pipe smokers these days, so when I saw Lars G in Handen yesterday I knew I had to ask him for a portrait. Lars G is retired today but he has a long career as a healthcare consultant. He travelled the world selling the Swedish concept of healthcare. Lars G owned a sailboat for some 35 years. He used to sail the Baltic sea often visiting ports in Finland and Poland. Unfortunately that hobby came to an abrupt end when his son managed to crash with the boat, that is now history.

The Young Ones

Two days ago we noticed a baby squirrel at the veranda. It was eating the bird seeds on the lawn. Tindra the cat was very interested, but didn't have the energy to try and catch the young squirrel. Yesterday there was four baby squirrels here. All eating bird seeds. For hours as it seemed. Enter Matilda the cat, Tindras sister. So now there are only three baby squirrels left.

Tussilago farfara

Spring is here, although it is still a bit too cold for my liking. From the bike I spotted these coltsfoot flowers behind a rusty fence, near a rail track in Jordbro, and figured that would make for a cool photo. The Swedish name for this flower is Tussilago.

Enjoying the Sunshine

This is Annika and Fredrik. I met them on the board-walk at Lower Lake Rudan on Sunday.They were sitting on a bench (where I had planned to rest for a while), overlooking the lake. It was a very sunny day and quite warm, at least here at the hillside. As you can guess they are lovers. They have been together for nearly a year. Both work as security guards in the Stockholm metro system. Come the summer they will fly down to Greece for a few weeks of summer sun at Skiathos, and we talked a bit about the Greek isles. I mentioned my favorite isles Ios and Antiparos. Before that trip they will head north for some white water rafting in Dalälven.

Scenes From The Theatre

While visiting Rudan a while back I noticed a few people working at the theatre barn. You can see the entrance on the second photo. The theatre group Ormteatern (The Snake Theatre), has been around for thirty years. I saw one of their first plays as a school kid in Jordbro (the founder Ulf Oldberg was married to my school teacher). On this recent visit I got a short guided tour by one of the members, I think it was Adam (second photo in the collage). For some odd reason I didn't think to ask his name. The other photos in the collage shows the theatre seats where my buddy Jim is sitting, the dressing room, the office, and a few other places in the old barn. At the moment you can see Bang Bang You're Dead there. Jenny Linder and Emilie Lindström from the theatre group has written a Swedish version of William Mastrosimones text. If you live in the area and feel like going to the theatre follow this link to book your tickets.