LSoTY

A silly thing we used to do in the Utata group over at Flickr. Last Selfie of The Year. I have not been out with my cameras for nearly two weeks, but figured I could take a self reflection photo and get it over with.

I see you

As you know I do enjoy street photography. And taking photos of windows. So this was a gfood scene. Barber shop at Katarina bangata. Styling by Brazil.

Need salvation?

Two people from the Salvation Army at the farmer's market on Södermalm. If you donated some money, they would either play a tune, or sing you a song for you. They were quite busy.

Coffee by witches

Café Blå, Östgötagatan. First, you enjoy your coffee of choice. The one of the witches will tell you your future by reading your coffee grounds. Not really sure that works. Well, I am 100% sure it doesn't.

Street library

Public bookcase at SoFo.

Looking at windows

A few more photos from a recent walk around SoFo on Södermalm. We start with a listed wooden building at the corner of Bondegatan and Södermannagatan. M.O.A.S serve meat on a stick, I think. The third photo shows The English Bookstore. Lykke is a little café. Next, another on the outside, looking in photo near Nytorget. Creative Heads is a chain with 11 barber shops in Stockholm. Brickyard is a good place for a brunch.

On the outside, looking in

Coctail, Bondegatan, Södermalm.The most colorful store in the country, at least if you ask them.

Merry Christmas

God Jul as we say over here. Today is Julafton in Sweden. And out on a pre-Christmas walk a couple of days ago on Södermalm, I spotted this Tomte as she tried her best to lure passersby in to a place along Östgötagatan.

Ten snaps from a recent promenade

I parked the bike at the Slussen Metro station on Södermalm and went for a photo promenade around the area. We start with a hair salon at Hökens gata. Next, a very popular bike model in this part of Stockholm, spotted outside the Wacko store. Not sure about the spelling at the Nudie Jeans place. Smart politicians decided to create a new bike path along Repslagargatan. It runs parallel to the very crowded Götgatan, and this is the new bike path between the two streets. Speaking of parallel, here is a fun photo of a woman hard at work in a window at a place called the Parallel Collective at Hökens gata. Next a bakery that is part of a small chain, this one is at the corner of Högbergsgatan and Götgatan. A long time Flickr contact now mostly at BlueSky posted a photo recently that he called a Self Reflection photo, so here is my response, showing my face in the reflection of the Hirschenkeller bar at Götgatsbacken. I called the next shot, meanwhile, at number 28 for obvious reasons. Next, a young couple walking across the walkway to Katarinahissen, as the guy is trying his best at the game don't look at the camera. And lastly, a few more women hard at work, this time at a place along Götgatan.

At the market

I visited the farmers market/Christmas market at Katarina bangata over the weekend. Nice day,7C so it was a nice bike ride to and from Stockholm.

MoJo at Medborgarplatsen

Two journalists from SVT having some fun at Medborgarplatsen. Behind the woman with the SVT microphone was the big Julbock, so I added two photos of it for good measure. It is an eight-meter-high metal Julbock returning to Medborgarplatsen after 80 years, give or take. The people from Gävle were not impressed.

2025 Winter Count

My 16th Winter Count. The mid-January photo is a bit different because there's nothing in it that says Winter, it is a view over Riddarholmen from Monteliusvägen at Mariaberget. We had a school shooting in February. Eleven people died, including the shooter. This photo shows flags at half-mast at the Royal Palace the day after that horrible incident. In March, I obviously ate a semla during Fat Tuesday. I got a virus in April and was out of action for two weeks. So I missed most of the Cherry Blossom mania, but managed to visit Kungsträdgården at the end of that frenzy. Sköna maj. Everyone's favorite month. When all the colors returns. Somenone stole my eBike in June. A bigger blow than I had ever expected. Quite a few walks with camera through the old town this year, snapping away at tourists. I checked out two classic car meets in August. This one is from Sveavägen. Sure was a fine Autumn day in September when I took this candid photo of a happy woman at Vattentorget. Can't have a Winter Count without a photo of That Old Tree. I took a few night shots as we entered the 100 Days of darkness. We finish with a photo from the Nobel Lights Week.

After dark

I had hoped to photograph the light installation at Stockholm City Hall. And from a distance while photographing another Nobel Light installation I could see a projection on the tower so I headed that way. It was getting really dark and that's when they usually start the light show, but there was some sort of issue and nothing happened so while I waited I took a photo of a ferry arriving at Klara Mälarstrand. More waiting followed and I decided to cross a pedestrian bridge that would take me to Riddarholmen. I stopped halfway over and waited for the light show that never happened. So I took another photo, this time of the Norstedt building at Riddarholmen. A few hours later, at home, a woman that runs a YouTube channel about Stockholm posted a video of the light show so I watched that instead.

That Old Tree

A December visit to the old tree. A monochrome version felt appropriate considering the lack of sunshine here this month.

14 photos from a very rainy day

The forecast said rain around noon, so I left nearly four hours before that, but boy was that a mistake. It rained pretty much all day. After a 100 minute wet bike ride I parked the bike under the golden bridge at Vattentorget which is part of the old town and went for an umbrella walk. Visiting the Christmas market and walking through different alleyways in Gamla stan, snapping away left and right. When I could not take it any more, I cycled for home. That was the worst bicycle experience of my life. It took two hours, and during that ride all I could think about was a warm shower and a warm meal. Arriving home, it took me five minutes just to undress because I was soaking wet and quite cold. But the shower was nice. Next the washing machine gave up, and it was sort of replaced, I now have two machines, one for washing and one for drying. It took 48 hours for my boots to dry and while in Stockholm yesterday something was smelling, and I realized that it was my Winter jacket and my gloves so they went into the machines yesterday afternoon. And guess what, it is raining again today.

Grand Hôtel

Two photos showing Grand Hôtel at Blasieholmen. Well, sort of, in the blurry background. I was out hoping to photograph some of the light installations for the Nobel Lights Week. There's maybe an hour between the two photos. I took the top photo while walking around Strömparterren waiting for the light feature to get under way, but nothing happened, so I started taking photos of all the glowing stars down by the water. I took the second photo one hour earlier at Skeppsbron, across the street from The Royal Palace. It is called Limina. It was made by Victoria Verseau. "For the Nobel Prizes, awarded annually in Stockholm, in the fields of science and literature. Limina reflects on how the Nobel Prize-awarded discoveries have opened doors to what cannot be seen with the naked eye and helped us understand the world". So now you know that.

One Way or Another

Nobel Lights artwork at Norrbro, next to Rosenbad. Through the visual language of everyday objects, a message of hope is displayed to the audience. The artwork consists of a set of reimagined luminous road signs. Together, they form a message to humanity, suggesting a shared direction for the future. Made by Tom Biddulph who was inspired by the Peace Prize laureate Ralph Bunche and a quote from his Nobel Peace Prize lecture. And they reminded both me and a Flickr contact of a couple of great songs with Kate Bush/Peter Gabriel and Blondie.