Haninge Garrison

Here are a few photos of some of the soldiers and civilians that I met at the Haninge garrison on Saturday. On the first photo you can see four members of the Swedish Amphibious Corps. In Swedish that is the Amf 1. They are part of the navy and have their headquarters here at Berga. Hands-on approach might be a good title for the second photo. Everyone that wanted to have a closer look at some of the weapons used by all the different soldiers could do so as proved here. And as the garrison is big and there was a lot of walking around to do it was nice to be able to try some of the freeze-drying food that the military had on offer. The meal here that I ate contained 800 calories according to the smiling soldier that served it to me.

The 4th Naval Warfare Flotilla

Here are a few photos from my visit to the Haninge garrison yesterday. Top photo shows HMS Sundsvall. It is a corvette based at Berga. It belongs to Fjärde sjöstridsflottiljen. The ship took part in an UN operation after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
On the second photo you can see one of three Combat Boat 90 that took part in a show yesterday. The boat is a fast military assault craft and has been sold to many navies around the world.
Third picture shows two vessels from the Swedish Amphibious Corps. They are rebuilt Combat Boat 90 ships that today serves as medical treatment ships. More military stuff to come.

007 Lindgren

This is 007 Lindgren. She is in charge of the minehunting on one of the minehunting vessels at the Haninge Garrison at Berga. Her job is to actively detect and destroy individual naval mines. She told me a little about her work when I met her at the Haninge Garrison. The Swedish Navy opened the gates for visitors today so I decided to pay them a visit. I stayed for a few hours and took around 100 photos. More photos to come in the next few days.

Free Water Anyone?

This is Caroline and Karoline. Two university college students. Caroline is a future economist, she will graduate in December. Her friend Karoline is studying law and has a few years left in school before she can title herself a jurist. I spotted their unusual bicycles in Handen on Thursday and decided to check out what was going on. The girls work extra for Manpower, and on this occasion that meant working for City Gross, which is a grocery chain. When I met them they were giving away water bottles, not a bad idea on a sunny summer day. And true to her education the future jurist Karoline asked me if I knew everything about The Personal Data Act.

Meira

Scouting for portraits in Handen I noticed a woman out on a brisk walk, but as I could see that she was listening to music, I decided not to disturb her. Ten minutes later when I saw here again I changed my mind. This is Meira. A very unusual name that her mother picked because she (mom that is), had a friend called Maire when she lived in Finland. Meira works at Stockholm South General Hospital as a Certified Nursing Assistant. She's a fitness fanatic. She works out at least four times every week. When she's not jogging, she's at the gym taking spinning classes or aerobic classes. She's a mother of three, and before the kids came she worked out every day of the week.

Memory Hole

I had a sneak preview at an upcoming art exhibition yesterday. This is Arvid Wretman and Jenny Palén. Their exhibition is called Memory Hole and it will open at the Haninge Cultural Centre on Friday. I was having coffee at the cafe and started talking to Åsa Mårtensson who is the Master of Arts at the centre. She told me about the exhibition and we walked into the showroom where Arvid and Jenny were busy working. I wasn't allowed to take any photos inside the showroom so I asked them if we could go outside for a quick portrait. Arvid and Jenny are students at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. The Memory Hole exhibition will run from this Friday until the 22th of August. If you visit on Friday you will also see a performance by Arvid and hear a musical performance by David Giese aka Joxaren. Later in the summer there will be an open workshop for students between seventh grade and ninth grade.

The Four-Dimensional Paradise

It is paradisical to look through a complicated maze of spaces and at the same time see that there is something more behind it.


Anders Reuterswärd.

From the 2010 Art Promenade in Österhaninge that opened this past weekend at the Galleri Kyrkskolan. The theme this year is Paradise. I took a photo stroll in the summer weather as I do every year and then had coffee and cake in the garden with a few of the artists. If this style of art looks familiar, it's because I took a portrait of Anders posing with one of his paintings last summer. More art from the art promenade to follow during the summer.

A Political Portrait

Sitting on my veranda reading the morning paper on Saturday I suddenly heard someone singing. I jumped on the bike and headed over to the park. The first thing I noticed there was two politicians. The man in the grass is Raymond Svensson from the Centre Party. He is a full time politician and group leader for his party in Haninge. And also the chairman of the Archipelago Foundation. It was the Centre Party that had organized this event. Did I mention that it is an election year? The surprising thing was the entertainer who sang Bellman and Taube in front of the old greenhouse. It was Mikael Trolin, also known as The Prince, (and yes, he is a real Prince, see my portrait of him from two years ago). He is now the leader of the Liberal Party in Haninge. And is running for a seat in the Swedish Riksdag. He was doing his coalition partner a favour by singing a few songs during this meeting. And as I sat down next to the blogging Raymond Svensson, The Prince sang the Dalarö Song for his friend.

The Girl With The Striped Dress

This is Donna. I noticed her (impossible not to, with that great dress), at Poseidon's Square in Handen a couple of days ago. She had a day off from work and was meeting up with a friend for some shopping. Donna is from Småland (in the south of Sweden), but has lived in Haninge for eight years. She's hoping for a future as a hair stylist and makeup artist. Her dream is to have her own beauty saloon some time in the future. Half an hour or so after I took her portrait I saw her again when she was having coffee with her friend.

School's Out Forever!

Or at least for the summer. I saw (and heard), these happy graduate students at Trollbäcken in Tyresö yesterday. They are secondary school students and are now leaving school after twelve long years. Some of them will continue to a higher education come the fall. Others will take a year off and travel the world, and others will start working. Good luck to them all. Chances are that they will not remember much of what happened on this day as they probably have been partying all week...

A Streak of Bad Luck

This is a girl with a bit of bad luck. I noticed Sofie with her crutches in Jordbro and asked her what had happened. She told me it was a soccer accident. Sofie plays for Haninge DFF. It was during a match that the accident happened. She was running for the ball and collided with the other teams keeper. The goalkeeper hurt her hip, but it was worse for Sofie. She broke her shin-bone. The next bad news for Sofie is that now she cant work. Which means that the planned trip to Australia with her boyfriend is now in jeopardy. But there is some good news. Sofie will graduate from Kungsholmens secondary school next Wednesday. So hurrah for that!

The Wannabe Groupie

I met Sanna at Poseidon's Square a sunny day last week. She was discussing something with a friend and I decided to break up that conversation and get a portrait. Sanna lives in Märsta (close to Arlanda Airport). She is a big fan of Thåström. And an even bigger fan of Marilyn Manson. I asked her what she would like to do in the future. I wanna be a Manson groupie was her surprising answer. Do you work, or are you still at school was my next question. No, I have a puppy. Another unexpected answer. When she can afford it Sanna travels around the country to meet friends, party and visit music festivals. Sounds like fun.

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.

Watch Out For Unicorns

I had noticed this sign a number of times before I decided to take a photo of it a couple of years ago, but the sign is still there, I saw it only last week and figured then that it would be perfect for this months theme day, which is Funny Signs. The unicorn sign can be found at Kalvsvik in rural Österhaninge. And as you can guess there are a few horse farms in this area. This is close to the art gallery, so it is possible that whoever it was that designed the sign, got the inspiration from the annual art promenade that takes place here.

This is actually one of my more popular flickr photos. 79 people call this a favourite and it has gathered around 10 000 views.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants of the theme day.

The Artist

This is Anneli Malm. She is an artist. She does handicrafts and paintings. And also a lot of angels that my friend Jim seemed to like, as some of the arty stuff he makes are a bit similar in style. I met Anneli at her new shop/showroom at Dahlgrensgården at Tyresta National Park. She showed me around and told me a little about her ideas. She's planning to sell handicraft on the first floor in the old building, and show some of her more expensive paintings up on the loft. The shop will be open mainly on weekends. Visiting kids will be able to make their own art. Anneli grew up at Farsta Strand and today she lives at Gubbängen (two Stockholm suburbs). She's managed to get a spot at Stortorget, the main square at the old town in Stockholm, and that's where you can find her every December. That really is a good place to sell your art, ask anyone who has ever visited Stockholm and they have probably been there.

The Magician

Pick a Card, Any Card..

So that's what I did. And then the magician tricked me five or six times in under a minute. This is Timmy. He is only eighteen years old, but has been doing magic tricks since he was eight. When he was twelve he started taking it more seriously. If possible he would like to make a living as a magician. Every Friday you can meet Timmy at the Wishing Well boutique in Handen. When he isn't tricking photographers he works with web design and computer programming. Oh and he likes photography as well.

The Abandoned Farm

This is Lövsättra. The name sättra means a field outside a village and that's very fitting here. The abandoned farm is located in a forest, just outside of Tungelsta. You can tell that it is abandoned by the state of the road leading up to the farm. It is grass covered and there are fallen trees everywhere. There are four buildings at the old farm. The main house, to the right on the top photo. The big barn to the left, (that has a roof that doesn't look that old). There are also a wood shed and one stone cellar type of building. I spent about an hour here walking around taking in the sights and shooting some photos so if you are interested have a look at the slideshow. I found some glass jars in the kitchen, and a few other items. Up on the attic I noticed a bed. There were some more things in the barn. Among them garden tools, a tyre swing and a home made bench. And also a workbench with tools and nails. I don't have any other info about this place yet, but my sisters husband (a long time journalist), has been digging around a bit, and he found a living relative to the last farmer who used this land, and has interviewed her for an upcoming article at haninge.org.

How to spend 1 000 000 SEK

The municipality has decided to spend 1 000 000 SEK on flower arrangements in Haninge this year. Thats 50% more than usual. The man you see here is Janne Sandh. One of the few remaining gardeners in Tungelsta. I spotted him up on a ladder along "Fina Gatan" in Handen. Some of the extra money will go to a number of Hanging baskets that you will see here soon. When that happens I will go back to see if it was worth all that money, so it better be...

Skywatch Friday.

The Bombshell

I spotted the beautiful Mary in Handen on one of those warm sunny days we had last week. She comes from Stuvsta, in the neighbouring municipality of Huddinge. She works at the Stockholm International Fair, and is a former elite gymnast. Sadly Mary had to give up the sport after eleven years of training, due to an gymnastics-related accident where she fell and hurt her arm. As you can see she is still super fit. And that is thanks to her new hobby which is pole fitness. That is strength- and endurance training, combined with dance and acrobatics on a pole. I think I might wanna see that!

That Old Tree

Finally some news about The Old Tree. There have been plans to build a new national arena for horse racing here. Something people have been debating for quite some time. I have met people who are behind the idea, because of all the money it would generate, and locals who would like to keep the open landscape as it is. On my way to the old tree the other evening, I stopped for a chat with the film icon/journalist and editor Christina Lindberg who can see the tree from her home at Välsta. She has worked hard to stop the race track, and she told me that the plans for the track has now been scrapped. Apparently Solvalla backed out of the project. So hurrah for that! Christina also informed me that the municipality have decided to set aside some money to look into what might happen to this area in the future. If you are new to this blog and are wondering what I am going on about, have a look at the slideshow below.

Funny Shot of the day

While in Handen a sunny day last week I noticed a TV crew from TV4 nearby and headed that way to see what was going on. It turned out to be Per and Johan from Förkväll. A programme that focuses on fashion and health, and a few other things. It's my mother's favourite show at the moment. It's hosted by three women. One of them is the former Miss Universe Yvonne Ryding. The woman you see here walking her dog Nikki, is Izza. She was on the Swedish version of the reality show Momma's Boys last year. She caused a bit of a scandal I guess, when she came out as bisexual, and I read somewhere that she was going to marry her girlfriend. When I met them last week they were shooting a 90 second intro that will air on June 2th when Izza will be a guest on the show. I took a bunch of photos of Izza and the crew, but I think this one was the best and also the funniest!

Evelyn & Marco

I was taking some photos of a new mobile art room at Poseidon's Square when Marco came up to me. He wanted to know a bit about my camera. Marco is an artist from Handen. He has just made a photo book with some of his paintings. He is also a street artist, known as SKAB. His best friend is another street artist, known as KLAB, who has done a few cool stencils that I have photographed this year. The pretty girl next to Marco is his girlfriend Evelyn. She lives in Jordbro and is a secondary school student, studying Fashion and Trade in Farsta. She's hoping for a career as a fashion designer. And as you can guess by looking at Marco's eyes it was a very sunny day.

You can see another portrait of the couple at Tumblr.

The Very Tough Girls

I stopped at the tiny beach at Upper Lake Rudan the other day to enjoy a very light lunch. There was a few people about, and these two very tough girls (their description), had just gone for a swim in the lake and probably wanted to dry up as it was kinda cold in the water, but very warm in the sun, around 25 Celsius. But when I asked them if they could jump back into the lake so that I could get a few summer like photos they quickly agreed. Although they said it felt like -5C! The girls are from Handen, and are students at the Söderbymalmsskolan. They had a half day off from school and what better way to enjoy that then heading for the beach. The rock behind the tough girls is called the Elephant Rock. It's very popular with rock climbers. The last time I took a photo here was back in November when I shot the multitasking angler.

The Ref

I was at a Supermarket in Handen when I noticed a woman with a Beijing Olympics tattoo on her back. This is Ulrika. She is a wheelchair rugby referee. I accidentally wrote down basketball and Ulrika quickly said, no no, that's a sport for sissies, this is the real deal! But she said it with a smile on her face. Her brother had an accident many years ago, where he broke his neck, and that's how Ulrika got involved with the sport. She has a lot of experience with four European Championships, one World Cup, and one Olympic Games on her growing merit list. Next up is the world cup in Vancouver. At the moment there's TV series about a wheelchair rugby team running on SVT called Köping Hillbillies where you can see Ulrica. Read more about the sport at the Wheelchair Rugby Federation website.

Airborne BMX Rider

If I ever tried a wall ride, or a bunny hop with my bike I would end up at the emergency room with a few broken bones. Not so for Jesper and Jocke. Two seasoned BMX riders from Stockholm. I met them near a supermarket in Handen earlier this week. They were out shooting some scenes for an upcoming DVD called Toasted II. Apparently the first Toasted DVD has sold out. The guys have been into BMX for nearly 25 years, so they know what they are doing. But even a pro misses sometimes and I noticed one painful crash. It's a growing sport and the shop where they buy their bikes sold around 300 BMX bikes last year. They have uploaded some videos to Vimeo, but I haven't been able to find them yet.

Skywatch Friday.

The Knitted Bike

I noticed this very arty bike outside a new second hand boutique in Handen last week. It's there to attract customers and perhaps even a photographer or two. The store is called The Wishing Well. Or Önskekällan in Swedish. Owned by Agnetha Sjöstedt. She has a great concept. She sells both quality clothing and handicraft. And as her son Timmy is a magician, Agnetha also sell magic books and other stuff for any wannabe magician. And if you want to see some magic stop by the shop any Friday. In the future you will be able to buy flowers here. And hopefully buy a cup of coffee. I told Agnetha about my portrait series and mentioned Stellan with the sexy hot rod and she knew him! The reason for that was her daughter Jannica, who is (or perhaps has been), a roadracing driver, and now works on a motorcycle magazine where Stellan participates sometimes . I like coincidences like that.

Different People

It's summer which means that I have mostly been focusing my photography on people and portraits. So here is a collage with photos taken over the last few days. Starting with a member of the Socialist Justice Party whom I met outside a supermarket. He wanted me to sign a petition against racism in Haninge. Which I obviously did. The woman with the Happy Birthday hat is Helen Andersson. She is the manager of the grocery store Coop Konsum in Tungelsta.The store celebrated 100 years last weekend. Next are three members of Young Left enjoying an icecream on a lawn in Handen. There was a political convention at the cultural centre last weekend. Abdi from Hässelby, Maia and Mathilda from Kinna are all members of the party, and they were working in the kitchen during the convention. The smiling cyclists are Markku and Eva. They are in a LAT relationship, that's Särbo in Swedish. Markko lives in Uppsala, and Eva in Skarpnäck. Their bike trip in the summer weather measured around sixty kilometres. The blonde in black is Linda. We have met before, but it wasnt until I had asked her for a portrait that we recognised each other. Next up is Lennart Andersson, a pensioner from Tyresö. He enjoys summer skiing, and is a member of the Jordbännarna ski club. Last but not least and I'm not 100% sure, but I think the guy fishing from the pier at Lower Lake Rudan is Mats Sundin, one of the best ever hockey players the world has seen. We didn't talk as I was shooting some photos from another pier and didn't want to shout across the water.

Casual Summer Outfits

This is Evelina and Frida. I met them at Najaden in Handen on Saturday and figured they would be up for a Summer portrait. The girls have been friends for many years.Evelina lives at Gullmarsplan in Stockholm and Frida at Vendelsö in Haninge. They are seventeen years old and secondary school students. Frida is reading the Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet,(try googling that), while Evelina is studying to become a hair dresser. I asked them if they had any interesting hobbies, and they told me they like to sing and party. Sounds like fun.

A Summer Wedding

Summer arrived to Stockholm over the weekend. And that was when Liliann and Magnus got married. I met them in Handen where a photographer were busy taking their wedding photos, so I decided to join in. The civil wedding ceremony took place later in the day at Stockholm City Hall (where the Nobel Ceremony takes place every year). The happy couple comes from two different parts of Sweden and now lives in Tungelsta, at The Unshovelled Alleyways that I showed you back in March. Their respective families met for the first time on Saturday, and after the ceremony they all went on a cruise with Birka Princess. In the wedding bouquet there's a Germini called Picture Perfect. And I think this photo is picture perfect.

Rebel Without a Cause

This is Svarten Asplind. He is the president of The One And Only V8 Cruisers. Which is a "raggarklubb". It's kinda hard to explain the term raggare, but I found a very good article of the subculture in The Guardian, well worth a read. Svarten is the oldest active "raggare" in Stockholm. He is sixty three years old and still going strong. I figured he would know the President of The Moonshine Cruisers and he said he had known him since Robban was a kid. Svarten loves Elvis Presley. He drives a 1960 Chrysler New Yorker. It's worth around $27 000, and is in mint condition. His t-shirt says Home is good, but the garage is best. The original proverb says Away is good but at home is best.

A World Class Sprinter

When I was a teenager there was a group of very successful Swedish athletes that where known as the 56ers. Because they were all born in 1956. This is one of them, Linda Haglund. You will know a few of the others. The ones that stands out a bit are Björn Borg and Ingemar Stenmark. There was also a wrestler, Frank Andersson, and another alpine skier, Stig Strand. Linda was a very good sprinter. She has one gold medal, and four silver medals from different European Championships. In the Moscow Olympics in 1980 she finished fourth in the 100m final. The best ever result by a Swedish sprinter. Her personal record in the 100m is 11.16, and that is still the Swedish record thirty years later! Today Linda works as a teacher in Haninge. She teaches English, Biology and of course Gymnastics. Her philosophy in life and as a teacher is to always be positive and look towards the future and see all the possibilities that lay ahead. She is also a published author, and has worked as head track coach for Santa Monica College. I met her a couple of days ago. We were both on our bikes and luckily for me the former world class sprinter had time for a chat and a few photos. She also told me that once in a while the 56ers meet and boy what stories they must be able to tell!

Aiming For The Sky

Any day with a blue sky is my kind of day. Crossing a pedestrian bridge on such a day I spotted this stencil. Not sure who this is supposed to be, if anyone, but I got a WWII feeling when I looked at it. I think it's made by KLAB, a local street artist that I have noticed here and there this year. The bridge in case you are wondering crosses Gudöbroleden in Handen, a road that now has a bike path that will take you all the way to Stockholm.

Skywatch Friday.

A Very Sexy Hot Rod

What are the odds on this happening. Just two days after meeting Håkan I spot another Hot Rod. This time in Handen. Meet Stellan Egeland. Who of course knows Håkan. Stellan is one of the best custom bike builders in the world. He is the 2007 World Champion of Custom Bike Building. And has won many other awards over the years. So it's no surprise that he is well known around the world for his amazing motorcycles. If you want to see some photos of his bikes press here. And for some videos try this link. When I met Stellan he was out running a few errands and he sure travels in style! He uses his 1929 Ford as often as he can. It has a very rough look, and I asked him, do you ever clean it? Why would I do that was his answer, point taken. Stellan customized his first bike (it was his bicycle), when he was thirteen years old and hasn't looked back since. You can see more of his work at his website SE Service. Or if you understand Swedish, or just want to say hi, try visiting his blog.

The Landscape Architect

This is Daniel Larsson. He is a landscape architect and works for WSP. I noticed him as he was taking some photos with his Canon EOS 50D at the commuter station in Tungelsta yesterday and walked over for a chat. I have a few photos from the recent work at the station and a few WSP photos as well. WSP is constructing a new bridge over the railway here and Daniel was shooting photos to use as he will make a 3D version of the future bridge. He works in Photoshop for the panoramic photos, shoots in RAW and will make a HDR panorama that he will then import to SketchUp for the 3D rendering. He figured this project would take around three days. To make room for the new bridge a couple of buildings, including Stenliden, has been teared down. Daniel is from Linköping, but lives in Stockholm. Before that he worked in London for a year and a half. One project he was involved with was the Brighton International Arena.