Hand in Hand in Handen

Two girls came walking hand in hand in Handen yesterday. Should I rewrite that? Anyway, this is Mirke and Alexandra. I took them for a couple, but they were just friends, although very good friends, which the rings are proof of, they called it Vänskapskärlek.Friendship love. Mirke, who is studying to become a nursing assistant lives at Årsta Havsbad. Her friend Alexandra lives in Tyresö, (a neighbouring municipality),and works as a personal trainer. She looked super fit, and that is thanks to her mixed martial arts training.

Walking The Dog

This is Jack. He is a dog. More precisely a Danish Swedish Farmdog. The two cute girls behind him are Elin and Amanda. They live in Tungelsta, and I met them near the Nödesta farm. Promenades are actually one of their hobbies, but if I heard them right they have yet to walk up to the old tree which was a bit of a surprise. They tried a few excuses not to appear in a photo. Like no make up, bad hair-day and a few more, but none of them took. Both girls are secondary school students. I asked if they had anything fun planned, and they sure did. It won't be long now before the girls fly down to Crete for a week of fun. And I'm guessing it will be a memorable vacation, as it's the first one they to without any parents around. My only advice to them was to try some Ouzo 12 with crushed ice and 7Up. And to fly down to Santorini next time and to some island hopping in the Cyclades.

The Party Girls

Heading home a few days ago I decided to take a short-cut through the nature park in Handen. That didn't work out as planned, because the first thing I noticed at the park were two pretty girls sitting on the bench at one of the ponds so obviously I had to stop and talk to them for a while. This is Natasha and Yasmine. They have been friends for about two years. They like to party. Yasmine often goes to rock clubs in Stockholm. And she has visited the Greek isle Zakynthos ten times, easily beating my Ios record which is five visits. To get the money for all that fun she works as a waitress. Natasha is a future real estate broker, she is currently studying to become real estate assistant.

Two Photographers

Whenever I spot a photographer (or two), these days, I always close in on them and start talking. This is Josefin and her good friend Victor. They live in Handen and that's where I met them a few days ago. They were zooming in on some flowers but had time to chat a bit about photography and a few other things. The beautiful Josefin works in sales and has photography as a hobby. Victor works as an assistant to an architecture photographer. At the moment they are busy with the new Stockholm Waterfront project. Victor is planning to take a photography course in the near future. As you can see he is very fit, and that is thanks to all the ice-hockey he has played. As you would expect with photographers these two felt more at home behind the camera, and they were a bit picky, but in the end I got a few photos that they liked!

The Impostors

Not sure if there's a band with that name. If not, perhaps Jimmpan and Happy should claim it. I met the guys in Handen last week and figured them for musicians. I was half right as both guys plays instruments. Jimmpan, who is an artist (check out his deviant art site), plays the bass. His friend Happy plays the guitar, and is also in to console games and engines! Jimmpan works at a butchery in Stockholm. Happy is a computer programmer student at BTH in Blekinge. The reason for the title and the guys rock pose, is that I photographed a rock band on this exact spot earlier this year.Oh, and on a cool note, there was a rock festival in Tungelsta a few days after I met these guys, which I told them about, and I did actually meet Happy there. Photos from that event to come in the next few days.

The Beach Girls

Tuesday was the warmest day of the year so far. I'm guessing around 26 C. Not bad for Sweden in late June. I noticed these two girls heading for the bus station, so I decided to see if I could hold them up long enough for them to miss their bus. Luckily for them that didn't happen. Gabrielle and Sofie have been friends for many years. Both girls live in Västerhaninge. After a very short chat where they informed me that they were heading for the beach, and that the bus was about to leave, I snapped a few quick portraits and after that they ran for the bus!

The Dudes

This is Dennis and Robin. I met them in Handen last week and decided to ask them for a portrait because I thought they looked kinda cool and relaxed. Robin is originally from Malmö, in the south of Sweden. These days he lives at Spånga. He works as a bartender here and there. On his free time he plays soccer (wing back), in a korp league team called Last Minute United. His buddy Dennis is someone who I have met before. He flips burgers at McDonald's at the mall in Handen, and when I met him a few years ago he looked like Jeff Lynne. Not sure who he resembles now with that moustache and those yellow sunglasses.

A shocking encounter :-)

I spotted these gals with their matching nail polish in Handen yesterday and decided to move in for a portrait. As I was about to explain what I wanted they cut me off and said "and now you want to take our portrait? That's right I said and that's when Emma (to the right),went into shock. When she came out of it her friend Matilda had already said yes to the photo shoot. But I don't have any make up on me Emma continued. I can't have my photo taken without make up! Can I hide my face? No, that doesn't make for a good portrait I said. But what if I hide my face behind my hair, that could work. Anyway, Emma (without the make up), works at a retirement home. Her friend Matilda works at an office. I asked if they had any fun hobbies and they told me, yes, we enjoy drinking wine! That's a hobby I am familiar with. What about anything crazy I asked and told them about Ego. And then they told me, we enjoy taking long walks. That doesn't really sound very crazy I said. But we do it differently they explained. First we make up a list with weird things we have to do during the promenade. Like what I asked? Like asking a guy if we can feel him up and grab his genitals! By now it was my turn to go into shock so that was that!

The Soulmates

Meet the soulmates. Stålis and Faber. It was hard not to notice them in their long black leather coats in Handen a couple of days ago, and I figured they would be interesting to talk with. They told me that they share everything. Like what? I asked. Oh, you know, everything from boys to underwear! Stålis is a secondary school student at the electrician school at Telefonplan. Faber has quit her studies and is hoping for a future in the music business. The girls play in a new band. Stålis is a vocalist and Faber plays the drums. They are members of Black Sheep at Solna, a music scene where many girls play. When there's a gig at Black Sheep the girls help out with security. Faber is working there at the moment and they are planning for a two day music festival next summer.

Turbo&Tyson

It's tricky not to meet people at Gullringskärret in Jordbro. It's a popular nature reserve, and there's also a big ancient grave field here. I have shot quite a few portraits here. Both dog owners and horse back riders. And this time I met this quartet. This is Jossan and Sara. The dogs are called Turbo (Rottweiler/German Shepherd ), and Tyson (Amstaff). The dogs where probably more interested in the surroundings, and wanted the photo shoot to end as soon as possible. Tyson belongs to Sara's son. Sara and Jossan both live nearby in Jordbro and are friends through their respective families. Sara works in marketing, and also in day care. Jossan used to work in home care, but are now thinking about open a dog care centre, or Hunddagis as we like to call it in Swedish. After I uploaded this photo to flickr I met Micke again (The Family Man), and he told me that he knew Jossan, which isn't that surprising to me, as it really is a small world we live in.

Two Cool Dudes

I was in Handen when I noticed these two guys leaving a tattoo parlour and figured they would be interesting to talk with. And I was right. Meet Hugo and Robban. They haven't been friends for very long, they met while working. Hugo was the most talkative of the two. He is originally from Norrköping and is looking for an apartment in the Stockholm area whilst living at his sister's place in Västerhaninge. He described himself as a skater who is interested in piercings and computers. Robban was the one who was going to get the tattoo, and he was at the parlour to book a sitting. The tattoo he wanted was some sort of skull on his left arm. Robban's big hobby is fantasy painting, and he is apparently a decent artist. After I took a few snaps of the guys, Hugo asked if I could shoot a few portraits of him, which I did then and there. And if he liked the photos he said he was going to buy them, and I have mailed him a contact sheet.