Magical Sensations: Midsummer 2023 - Gothenburg, Sweden

Thousands of people from many walks of life gather in the Slottsskogen Park at Midsummer. The general mood vibrates with some kind of multicultural magic, right here, at this hotspot of the most Swedish of all traditions! Seems like we get to be ONE when we all smile and have fun! A very uplifting experience, so direly needed in these unstable times. A useful historic summary on Midsummer in Sweden:

http://realscandinavia.com/midsummer-... 

A quote from it:
The tradition of dancing around the Midsummer pole is an old one, though of course the dances have changed over the centuries. Today organized Swedish Midsummer festivals typically include exhibitions of folk dancing in traditional costumes, as well as ring dances and games for people of all ages to join in. No Midsummer celebration is complete without Små grodorna, a dancing game in which people of all ages hop around the pole while singing about little frogs. The goofiness is part of the fun. Midsummer was considered to be a time of magic, and anything to do with nature was thought to have a special power. Gathering flowers to weave into wreaths and crowns was a way to harness nature’s magic to ensure good health throughout the year. Even though most people these days probably are unaware of the magical origins of the tradition, weaving crowns of flowers is still a major part of any Midsummer observance. The magic of Midsummer also extends to the realm of romance. A Swedish verse says: Midsummer night is not long but it sets many cradles to rock.

Carnival Time in Gothenburg, Sweden -- 2023

 

The Gothenburg suburb of Hammarkullen has been the home of a spring-carnival since 1974, by now the largest event of this type in Sweden. The population of Hammarkullen reflects the influx of immigrants to Sweden in recent decades, not unlike developments in other ”concrete” suburbs in this country. Yet, many people will witness that Hammarkullen has developed a somewhat special cosmopolitan spirit, often described as ”friendly”, ”tolerant”, ”inviting” and the like. And this not just noticable during the three short days of the carnival. It's not far-fetched to assert that the carnival tradition has influenced this spirit a great deal. And ever since a brutal invasion took place not far from this country, it has become clear: It is not self-understood that people are free to join in celebrating life, smiling, singing, dancing, presenting skills and fancy costumes. It is indeed an achievement, something of utmost value! Just as misguided – or simply unfortunate - people elsewhere, we all could be swept along with a wave of violence, unable to return to a peaceful life. Best to be strong in our pursuit of happiness. Just as vital as food and the air we breathe are all the good things that bring people closer together.

 

Bastei - Germany's spectacular sandstone formations

 

The Bastei area is one of a number of hotspots where an ancient seabed has eroded into spectecular shapes. They are found in a fairly large region almost equally divided between Germany and the Czech Republic. Well worth a visit, maybe combined with the cities of Dresden and Prague!

 

Life Is Life = Love Is Love Pride Parade Gothenburg 2022

An estimated 20 000 marched supporting equal rights for people given to different modes of love. At the same time, this was a joyous and powerful celebration of the distance covered breaking away from the dark ages of discrimination and persecution. Soundtrack: I'm aware of that "Life is Life" is heard (too) often in the context of rousing sport events, at least in Europe. Nevertheless, this is at least a slightly different version. The simple lyrics fit rather well to solidarity-events like the Pride parades.

A Late-Fall Uplift

 

The month of November in the northern hemisphere has a bad reputation. Words like "grey", "wet", "dark" come to mind. A well deserved reputation? Probably... Yet, many nature photographers know that the apparent dullness is only one side of the coin. Not only that "dullness" itself can be made interesting in images, but also that light and color can literally break through and create a magic that makes ninety percent of all summer pictures cringe with envy...

 

Sweden's Nr. 1 Carnival is Back!

Due to the pandemic, no Carnival in 2020 and 2021, will the event survive? The year 2022 would give the answer... And what an answer it was! More aglow than ever, more smiles, more friendliness, more sparks between public and performers! And even participants from the Ukraine, reminding us all that this type of celebration is not self-understood and must be upheld with fervor!

National Holiday In Sweden - a nostalgic flashback from another time

 

June 6th is the National Holiday in Sweden. In Gothenburg the renowned Symphony (GS) invites all to a free outdoor performance in the largest city park. Due to the ongoing pandemia, 2019 was the latest such event, which seems ages ago. It was the inspiring music used here that sparked the flashback leading to this little image show. It was not performed by the GS, but they had some similar crowd pleasing film music pieces in their program.

 

A New Year's Day Walk - Gothenburg - Lindås 2021

In uncertain times, likely to weigh down, I always experience slow 'serious' music in a minor key as a benign, understanding ally. The same holds for certain landscapes and landscape-images that match both music and my mental state. To not resist being absorbed by the gravity of a situation - or mood - very often comes with benefits. Darkness reveals traces of light, which we can choose to be guided by.

Eleven years old, me and my classmates had gathered for a regular music lesson. Rather unexpected the teacher started to talk about classical music, how it can be a comfort for people in difficult times. He gave some short examples on the grand piano. Beethoven was among them, the other ones I don't remember. The teacher was a rather young and sporty guy, full of good-natured jokes, with a discernible dose of self-irony. An unusal property in those days. Needless to say that he was popular with us. But still, I always wondered what had given him the courage - and trust - to talk to us pre-teens about music as a source of solace in the face of misery and suffering. There may have been a slight hint in his voice that he himself might have undergone a crisis. But then, it could also have been a general empathic ability. At any rate, one look around convinced me that I wasn't the only one in class to be touched by his words, his manner and the examples. I have always remembered this lesson and I'll never forget Günter Dubber, the outstanding music teacher.

Fall Scenes From the Central Swedish Highlands

Late September and early October days in this area can be everything, lovely, stormy, rainy, foggy, snowy, cool, warm, you name it. Full of surprises.

Five sequences, fifteen minutes in total.

 

Noctilucent Clouds Stockholm, July 28, 2020

Shortly after 1:00 on July 28, 2020, the northern night sky visible from the Stockholm area offered an impressive display of night shining "clouds", consisting of ice crystals and meteorite dust in the mesosphere, at a height of  > 80 km.
This is not a particularly rare phenomenon. But it can only appear at certain times and places. You'll see it only in summer twilight, some time after sunset or before sunrise. And it is confined to a latitude belt that in European terms reaches roughly from Southern Germany to Mid Sweden. If you go further north, the summer nights are too bright. There is a corresponding visibility belt on the Southern Hemisphere, but very little land to watch the icy clouds from.
There are lots of interesting facts on noctilucent clouds on the net. And Youtube features some awesome time-lapse films. In reality the motion of the bright wisps is rather discrete, but with time-lapse technique you will marvel at the beautiful motion. Try the impressive photographic work of Adrien Mauduit, for instance this film, and don't miss the drama of this one.

Corona Consolations - Nordic Walks In And Near Gothenburg, March - Mai 2020

Suddenly in 1986, huge amounts of radioactive fallout from the catastrophic explosion of the Chernobyl reactor descended on Europe in an uneven pattern, due to prevailing winds and rainfall. This country, Sweden, was the first to discover the contamination, in panic searching for a suspected domestic source. Large parts of the country were severely hit, amongst them an area where I happend to work at the time. But even the rest received unnerving amounts of radiation.
One of the worst aspects was that nature itself had suddenly turned into a threat. The fallout was everywhere, covering everything. It was even being absorbed by animals and plants. And it was here to stay for an uncertain length of time. You had to avoid the outdoors, home was a safer place, buildings, rooms, basements. The deeper behind walls and barriers you were, the less exposure to the danger you had. It was a devastating feeling to not be safe in the great wide open. Even the very air you breathed, rain that fell on you, nothing could be trusted anymore. Nature had let you down, it was your enemy. But then, who let down whom... I think, everybody knows, to echo Leonard Cohen's eery song:
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed

And now Corona. It has hit us severely and scared us in a way we never felt before. Yet for the time being we are spared the horrible feeling that the natural world had become a threat (not counting the virus itself). On the contrary, nature suddenly rose to a level of integrity it had not enjoyed for some time. Especially the air quality got much better. In some countries, like India, dramatically, but noticable almost everywhere through the absence of airplane condense trails, with their irritating aftermath of weird artificial cloudscapes.

Other than a call for social distancing, there were no restrictions in this country in the freedom to be outside. So nature stayed your friend, welcomed you. I quit my training sessions in our shared basement gym, it felt a bit unsafe since a number of people use it. Instead I intensified my nordic walks, using arms and poles for a good part of the forward thrust. During the months of March to Mai the weather was unusually sunny, with the exception of two days, which were the most memorable. They featured a blend of sunshine and short gusty episodes with forceful graupel (soft hail) showers! No pix possible, but to stand there exposed near the shore with a 360 degree clear view, feeling this marvellous, coolish caress on the sweaty face, straight from Mother Nature herself, unforgettable. Freedom itself!

Nordic walking and photography don't go together so well. You don't want to carry heavy equipment, handle bulky cameras, or change lenses. A light, pocketable camera is ok, sometimes you can use your poles as a makeshift tripod. My pocket camera provided me with a somewhat downscaled type of photography but came to play an 'upscaled' role in the entire experience: Being outdoors was even more “intense” than normally, more special, less self-understood. I also observed the dignity of other living things taking care of life and growth. All in all, my walks where helpful in coping with the many concerns, pressures and fears arising in this - for us - unprecedented life-situation.

A Rare Break In A Grey January

Luckily I had my little Sony RX100 camera in my pocket when I headed out for some shopping recently. Lucky, since the perpetual featurless grey sky unexpectedly cleared and revealed that big fireball that we almost had forgotten about. A slight haze remained and made the light even more interesting.
Many times before I have walked along Askims Bay, this time I even managed to find a different path, opening different vistas. Good things came together in those forty minutes I could spare. Happy moments.

For The Love Of Dance - Images from school performances at the ATALANTE Dance Theatre

During my years in High School teaching I tried to be active in two different professional areas. One was to strive for being a good and inspiring classroom teacher. This in a wide sense, encompassing modern systems where locations for learning were not always classrooms and where student growth not necessarily is brought about by 'teaching' alone.
The other field was to take a keen interest and a participating role in everything that goes on in a school - or could be made to happen - besides the classroom work. In schools open to various learning approaches, there often arise fuzzy zones between classroom learning and the extracurricular activities, both the the formal ones offered by the school and the informal ones, built on ideas, initiatives, possibilities.
Consider this: A school hosts, or arranges, rock concerts, fashion shows, open lunch hour theatre, modern and classical dance performances, poetry readings, style/talent pageants, student-run television going out to the general public via cablevision, fairs and exhibitions featuring student entrepreneurs, running a school-store as a student coop, organize jippos and publicity drives to attract new students, arrange open discussion forums with visiting politicians, establish a school newspaper with student writers, columnists and reporters: Would all this be possible without being anchored in many different ways in classroom work? And would not all these activities have an influence on what happens in the classrooms? These activities – and the list is far from complete – all existed at my place of work during two decades. Not all of them at the same time, but all at least for many years. Single or short term events are left out here.
These two threads – in class/outside class – need to be intertwined and should both receive attention.

Documenting school events by photo and film was one of my favorite activities in school. Sometimes with interested students at my side, sometimes not. When it comes to covering Dance, I had to learn some lessons. The Dance teachers were dedicated professionals and immediately weeded out many of my pictures, when they e.g. showed obvious dancer's mistakes, weaknesses, flaws in posture, position, dress and the like. They were so right, they saw the risk of these images creating an impression of a low-quality education. Naturally, my general feel-good values did not satisfy professional demands...
It is doubtful that the dance teachers would approve of my mixture of images from several performances. But with a distance of several years from the school-promotion aspect, I shall with all respect return to my surviving values. There is a meta-aspect to these images, clearly showing skill, dedication, seriousness, assertion, the will to express. That is a lot. To me always more fascinating than an achieved mastery.
 

Lasting Impressions

Looking back, I find - amongst other precious memories - experiences of an intense interaction with nature. Episodes - and sometimes only moments - that struck a chord and left a lasting echo. My mental impression is connected to the photographic rendition, but for me it also reverberates beyond the image.
Some of these strong experiences start out as an ordinary photographic search for appealing landscapes, good viewing angles, interesting subjects etc. At times though this activity gradually - or suddenly - becomes very intense. Something touches you. It can arrive on different channels. It can be an overwhelming sense of beauty, an unexpected characteristic, an unusual lighting, a rare atmospheric condition. But it can also be an everyday scene that somehow presents itself in striking freshness, purity, balance, clarity.
Sometimes you have time to respond with the camera to the best of your ability, at other times you are in a "fleeting moment" situation, leaving you fumbling nervously with the gear, hoping that somehow you'll succeed to catch the "experience".
Even pictures that did not have their genesis in a memorable "on-location" experience can be special. They have a growing long term effect, a kind of afterglow. They constitute a slice of reality that you may have failed to comprehend or appreciate fully at the time of taking. In this way, a picture can give you a subtle hint to push on with developing your craft on many different levels.
Here is a selection of  personal Lasting Impressions. It is a review that gives me some satisfaction alongside a feeling of thankfulness.
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The Touch Of November

Sometimes the month of November is even greyer and darker than usual. So it was 2019 in the Gothenburg area. Even "weathered" photographers can be a bit uninspired during this time. Yet we know, there really is no reason to feel this way. The stark bareness of nature is impressive and has a message for us. At least I think I can sense one walking around with the camera. It is serious, but not depressive. Invigorating in a way.

No War On Northern Syria!

On October 12th 2019, many thousands in Gothenburg, Sweden, demonstrated against the Turkish aggression in Syria. Gothenburg is home to a large number of people with Kurdish background, alongside many others with roots in the Middle East.

West Pride Parade 2019, Gothenburg, Sweden

Embedded in the several days long West Pride Festival in Gothenburg, the Parade was as usual the highlight. Some 15 000 people are believed to have participated . They came from all walks of LOVE, united in marching for the right to choose your partner freely, without the fear of discrimination and persecution. One doesn't have to travel far from Gothenburg, say, 1-2 hours by plane, to reach countries where the values the Pride Festival stands for are not welcome. Worse, the mere expression of such values can be regarded as an act of indecency and likely land you in jail. And - easy to forget - a timetrip of only two decades would lead to similar consequences in this country.
Tolerance is essential for a living democracy and should only grind to a full stop when conduct or extreme attitude infringe on the legitimate rights of others.
In case you wonder: Is the Pride-phenomenon totally uncontroversial in Sweden? Officially: Yes. Most politcal parties, many bodies of power, police, health + social authorities, trade unions, large companies, churches, universities, organization etc. give their active and participating backing. The event as such has arrived at Mainstream. But critical voices can be heard. And not just from the (sizable!) homophobic part of the population. Even from "within" certain aspects of the festivals are discussed controversially. Points made inlude these: Too much leeway for Feminism of the disdainful, man-hating type, tendencies towards vulgarity and obscenity, exhibitionism stealing the show from the serious and sober issues, doubts about the evolution of the rainbow symbolism from a general multicultural meaning to a more specific "gay" significance.
All these and other issues will and should never be at rest in a democracy. The main leap forward is this: Millions and millions of people worldwide live happier, more fulfilled lives when the shackles of religious and social intolerance are put away with. This is a good reason to celebrate. In this sense, thumbs up for PRIDE!

Living With Time - An Outdoor Exhibition

Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin is a well-known Swedish Photographer. Some twenty years ago she managed to launch an unprecedented surge of public reaction with an exhibition of arranged pictures around the theme of Christianity and homosexuality. Her Ecce Homo exhibition was shown throughout Europe for several years (you can find an interesting Wiki-article here).

It is safe to assume that Ohlson Walin's outdoor exhibition Living With Time in May 2019 in Gothenburg will not be viewed as controversial in any way. But that doesn't mean that the images fail to reach the passers-by at the entrance of a large inner-city park. Ohlson Walin presents older individuals in image and thought. And in a subtle way she counterbalances the often frightening reports of disagreeable situations awaiting the old and frail. After some thought while walking around, I was in tune with her selection of individuals still pursuing lifelong goals, speaking of pensive acceptance, and those still mustering every ounce of joie de vivre they still get a hold of.

Many people took the Ecce Homo exhibition 20 years ago as a plea to be more human in the face of common human life-situations. Living With Time has a similar intention by way of issuing a warm, inviting and inspiring plea.

In Search Of The Point -- (Images from the coastal area in South Gothenburg, Sweden)

Images from one of my favorite Gothenburg nature areas, by now almost familiar territory. But only almost. On my excursions I sometimes caught sight of an elevated spot at the end of a promontory. Merely twice I saw some people up there, seemingly absorbed by what must have been a superb panorama of the archipelago facing them. This particular spot I started to call "The Point". My attempts to reach it though were spoiled repeatedly by the terrain. Sometimes it was a wall of solid rock I could not overcome. A nasty bog sent me once on a hasty retreat. At some places the tick-infested undergrowth was virtually impenetrable. But mostly I was stopped by sudden chasms that revealed themselves first on close approach. Now, this is not to claim that the terrain in question poses a serious challenge for committed and prepared outdoor enthusiasts. But for a picture-taking stroller, seeking gentle enjoyment and peace of mind, the topography did have surprises up its sleeve. Too steep from three sides for casual walking, The Point's gentler fourth slope was the remaining option. Even here swamps and dense vegetation posed challenges. But eventually it only took some determined scouting to establish a functioning course. Once figured out, it was not even difficult to reach the goal. The view was a great reward. And The Point itself: A great place to be, no beer bottles, cans, cigarette butts, barbecue leftovers. No graffiti. The slight difficulty to reach The Point seems to prevent outdoor parties here. It was just to breathe deep, taking it all in, all by myself, the silence and the beauty. It felt like a vestige of bygone days, encouraging fantasies. I felt released from the narrow confines of the present. Ages and periods resonated, thoughts spiralled freely to Vikings, Bronce and Stone Age folks - all thriving here once upon a time, after a massive ice sheet had finished grinding and polishing this rocky shore.

A Winter's Spell - New Gothenburg Images

A clear, calm, cold day in a coastal area. Some housing developments nearby, but a lot of untouched nature. Snow is 24 hours old, up to 30 cm deep in places. Some footprints, looks like two or three people have been here since the snowfall. But nobody around now. The footpath leads to the water, but for good vantage points I have to stray upwards. Very rocky terrain. Depite spyky boots I have to tread carefully on steep grades. This is not the Himalaya, but even a short and sudden slippage could be painful.
From places higher up a gorgeous scenery unfolds. Camera goes warm. Hard to grasp that I'm still inside city limits. Quite a few times I have walked and scrambled around here before, but never on such a winter's day. No trace of a big city nearby, no people, no boats. A sense of "irreality" in time and place hangs in the air. An atmosphere that I try to breathe in. A spellbinding presence that's hard to let go, hard to turn away from.



Actually, the above image show is the second version, after experimenting with some image manipulation in the first one. Somehow I felt that the original images where "too close" to reality and not really reflecting a kind of emotional surge that went through me at the time.
What could I do about that ---   Maybe this called for some kind of alteration of the images. A tweak that would give them a hint of "something else". What I came up with was a sandwich-technique, starting with two identical layers of the same image. The upper layer then was converted to black and white plus a graphic effect. This graphically manipulated layer then received a certain degree of transparency so the unchanged color layer shines through. Both layers then are merged into one. At least in this technical way a more literal rendition and a subjective impression coexist in the final image.
Initially I found the result interesting. As some time passed I got dissatisfied with the graininess. Particularly combined with some zooming and panning, the grain can be a bit irritating. Also, the effect works reasonably well on some pictures, less well on others. On the whole, this type of manipulation is most likely better suited for pictures printed on fine-art matte paper. But here is the first version anyway:

Christmas In The Provence: An Elusive Performance...

It was in the late afternoon of December 24th, 1974. I was at home in my room in Burnaby, Canada. In a few hours I was to be off to spend Christmas Eve with friends, not very far away. In the window I watched the slowly growing darkness and turned the radio on for some music, preferably something ”christmassy” or classical.

In my early teens I was an ardent fan of hunting the airwaves, fascinated by radio-technique, but equally keen on catching intriguing content. Living in Europe in the 60s, I had managed confirmed receptions of stations from all continents. Though long distance shortwave listening I had largely left behind, I still liked to check out the airwaves. Now on Canada's westcoast, it was good sport to listen for usually low-powered local US medium wave (AM) stations. This worked normally only after sunset.

On this special day I was lucky, something caught my ear immediately with spellbinding music. It became clear later that I had tuned in on KKHI, San Francisco. A station entirely devoted to classical music, not too common in North America, especially for medium wave broadcasting. With 10 kW power this station was quite weak (European stations often transmitted with 100 kW or more!) But on this day the reception was ok, good enough for recording! I hastily fumbled for my little cassette recorder to catch the music......some kind of choral performance, hard to say if it was modern or old, maybe even medieval. Definetly music that went straight to my heart, as I gazed out into the grey and red dawn, deeply entangled in memories and diffuse thoughts of things to come.

I was baffled by my difficulty to place the music on a timeline, but even more by the special ”quality” of it. Angelic voices of unearthly beauty, side by side with very earthy ”joie de vivre”,  sometimes in the same piece. Who could melt these two aspects so convincingly into one coherent concept? My contemplations had already drifted to France, some of the song lyrics hinted at that, but it was not over-obvious, given the mediocre sound quality of long distance AM reception. Later the announcer summed up the just presented content as this: 

1) Divertissement Pastoral (To Accompany The Mass Of The Nativity In The Abbey Of St. Michel de Frigolet) Composed By Henri Tomasi
2) 12 Noëls – Christmas Songs   Arranged By Henri Tomasi, Composed By Nicolas Saboly

Maîtrise d'enfants de la Radiodiffusion-télévision française

Les Tambourinaires de la Masetto Maïanenco

Jacques Jouineau, Orchestra

Tomasi was a modern French composer (1901-1971), while Saboly was a writer/composer in the early 16 hundreds. So I wasn't so far off with my uncertainties about the correct time period.

The cassette recording, despite its obvious inadequacies, became the treasured memory of these magic moments in my room at the onset of Christmas Eve. I played it virtually every Christmas since. Of course I tried to get a hold of a record, but no store could help me. And not even the internet yielded any traces, at least in the early days.

It was not before about 2009 when I finally did find some information on the net. The LP disc played on the radio turned out to be a Deutsche Grammophon production from 1962, recorded in the St.Michel Abbey near Avignon. Apparently there had been re-issues on CD, but I never found a trace of them either. I had to wait until December 2018 to stumble upon a complete recording in fine stereo quality on Youtube. It might have been placed there by an organization connected to the state owned French RTF (Radio + Television) itself, who probably held the copyright. But this is just a guess.

Musically, I am a layman. But I'm sure that Tomasi and Jouineau did a great job with the arrangements, the instrumentation and the youthful choir. So sharp, so disciplined, yet so uninhibited and inspired. The undoubtedly hard work apparently did not take away anything from the youngsters' enthusiasm. To listen to this fine 1962 performance in high quality, what a joy. Heartwarming and uplifting. And my personal treasure hunt finally leading to success.

Please note: The "Divertissement Pastoral" is an edited version, leaving out texts of known French writers, which are an integral part of the piece. Highly recommended listening, even more so for non-native French speakers because of the beauty of the texts and the exceptional clarity of the voices! Find it here:

https://gaming.youtube.com/watch?v=rzykAA7cYO8

 --- Copyright of sound and image material lies with the legal owners or is in the public domain. Fair non-commercial use is claimed for historic and educational purposes ---

We Will Tell Your Story -- The Disco Blaze in Gothenburg 1998

At this time, twenty years have passed since the catastrophic disco blaze in Gothenburg, Sweden, when 63 young people lost their lives.
The blaze started through arson in an unused stairway, where highly volatile smoke gases gradually accumulated. While music and dancing with hundreds of youngsters present were at its peak, someone noticed a smell of smoke and eventually opened a door backstage towards the staircase. The oxygen-deprieved gases spread under the ballroom's ceiling within seconds. The explosion that followed started fires immediately, everywhere. The only viable escape route was narrow and soon blocked by unconscious, injured or dead people. Many survivors were severely traumatized by horrible situations, like having to climb over a mountain of bodies to force their way through what little opening was left.
Hundreds were injured in body and soul. Literally thousands of citizens of this city were deeply affected by the tragedy, parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, classmates, teachers, friends. And even tens of thousands who didn't know any victims or injured youngsters personally entered into the great sadness, lying like a dark cloud on Gothenburg for many days.
Both the affected people and those who took part in relief and rehabilitation work will also remember these dark days as a time of an intense feeling of closeness and solidarity, described by many as a unique experience leaving indelible impressions. Thousands marched again on October 29th, 2018 to take part in the commemoration at the site of the blaze. Again a time for sharing both sorrow and a warm solidarity.



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The image show below came about directly in the wake of the catastrophe 1998. It partly reflects the situation in my school, a Senior Secondary School in a Gothenburg suburb, which lost 15 students. All staff and many students went into a struggle to alleviate sorrow, to see to the injured and traumatized, to channel them to professional help, spend time with students mourning their friends, meet bereaved relatives visiting the school. During this time we were one big family, without the usual differences of age, rank, function. We all felt that we had to delve into the gravity of what had happened. And be united in grief as a first step to overcome the nightmare.



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On October 30th, 2018, principals, teachers, counselors and other staff members of our school came together for a remembrance meeting in the school's own Memorial Courtyard, created directly after the tragedy. Especially in the early aftermath this place played an important role for silent meditation and the handling of grieve and sorrow that was all about.

September Snow - White Meets Yellow in the Jämtland Mountains

No Indian Summer this time in the Jämtland mountains. Weather ranged from gusty to stormy, with horizontal blizzard-like snowfall sweeping the mountainsides, still clad in autumn colors. Now and then came surprising lulls and sunny breaks, most of the time the photo-outings were a challenge. My walks were short, hands stiff and wet, the equipment in danger. My camera is weather-tightened, the telezoom - a cheap Tamron - is not. And a single snowflake on your lens can spoil your efforts. On one occasion I had to use the car as shelter, turning it in a direction where I could open the leeward side window... On the whole: a refreshing experience, after a summer with long stretches of unbearable and unnerving heat. September 2018 in Jämtland will be recalled for a long time.

A 70s Rock-Highlite: Uriah Heep - The Park

Early 70s in North America. For young, sophisticated music-lovers (like me !) FM Radio was the thing. Vinyl records, Eighttrack tapes: sure, you could buy your music to feed the livingroom stereo. But what would you buy? Where did you get introduced to the abundance of new creations? Whereas AM radio had for the largest part fastened in a mold we still know all too well - the merciless repitition of the most recent "bubble gum"-like pop songs, a selected few FM stations catered to the "Heads", the "Freaks", progressive long-haired people in other words. Widely varying types of modern popular music were presented, including occasional excursions into jazz and Classical music. A laid-back coolness in the announcements and commentaries contrasted starkly with the frenetic pitched-up voices of the AM jockeys.

Early in 1971 I listened to an interesting, longish rock-piece on my favorite FM station, CKLG FM, Vancouver. A marvellous rock symphony of sorts, largely instrumental, but occasionally garnished by a remarkably high pitched voice. I caught the title ("Salisbury"), but the group's name seemed strange, to me it sounded like "You Are A Heap". Groups with strange names - there were many. Yet, this one seemed unlikely. Even when the issue was resolved, it became clear that the name was actually "Uriah Heep", it still made no sense to me. To my shame, I must confess. As a literature student I should have known that Uriah Heep is one of the major characters in Dickens' novel David Copperfield. But, at the time I had only Oliver Twist to my credit, read as a child in German translation.
Two other songs stood out for me on the album: The Park and Lady In Black. The latter very closely matched a bittersweet romantic experience I had, while The Park even back then struck me as a perfect piece for an accompanying image show.

This show became reality first in 2008. It was one of the first ones I put together with the newly acquired ProShow Producer Software.  The images where mostly from the Botanical Gardens in Gothenburg, which I knew inside out from jogging rounds. There I would often pass a parkbench that had a little metal plaque on it. This was in memory of a young Swede who died high up in the Twin Towers, New York, in the 2001 terror attack. This Gothenburg youngster was on a temporary training assignment in the US and I often gave him a thought while running or walking.

When working with the images I listened to the lyrics closely. For the first time I noticed that the song ended on a sad note, unredeemed:

So, why my heavy heart? You say
When tears would stain
The sights so gay
My brother's dreams once here did soar
Until he died at the hand
Of needless war

At first it seemed impossible to illustrate these lines with my nature pictures, which were supposed to convey positive feelings. But then it struck me that I could do justice to the lyrics by showing the bench and the memorial plaque as an expression of my feelings for this unfortunate young man whose life was so cruelly slackened. And so I dedicated my image show to him, David.

I put it on Youtube in 2008. Up to now it has had almost half a million views. I am not suggesting that this is due to my pictures, the image quality on YT is deplorable. Simply, The Park is a well-known song and for a long time other sources for it on YT were scarce. Ten years have passed since publication and I felt I should do a new version. My own efforts got more out of the original images now and luckily Youtube is able to display in much improved image and sound quality today.

EuroPride Festival, Gothenburg 2018

Another festival under the rainbow colors in our city. As usual, the festival days were peaking with a big Parade. An unprecedented 25 000 people were marching, while many more were lining the entire route.
With recent global developments in mind we would be well advised not to take important minority rights for granted. Many of these have taken a long time to be recognized even in the most liberal and secular nations. And even there minority rights continuously face older and newer challenges! 

Azalea Valley, Gothenburg -- Anniversary Edition

My visits to the so-called "Azalea Valley" in the month of May are numerous. The valley is actually a rather small area in Gothenburg's largest city-park, a kind of hollow slope, providing some shelter from three sides which the Azalea bushes seem to like. What draws many visitors here in the spring are the many different colors, some intense, others subtle and refined. And the scent is an experience in itself: it is never pungent, it never hits you head-on. It rather hovers over the valley with its hint of incense, uplifting, but also teasing. Often it feels like that you don't ever want to leave the place, you just can't get enough of it. And it makes me wish for a camera that could record fragrances alongside the pictures.

This 2018 Azalea blooming season came to a sudden end, due to an unprecedented heat spell in Northern Europe. And right at that time it was twenty years ago that a group of students and I myself carried out a photo-project in the park. Our images, posters and image-shows were well received locally and also travelled all the way to the UN-headquarters in New York, as a part of an exhibition of student work connected to the 50:th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. (Go here for a project description).
Regarding this slideshow: Pictures showing student-models started out as 35 mm Kodachrome slides. These two decades old pictures I wanted to intermix with more recent digital pictures taken in the 16x9 ratio format. Digitizing slides results in a 3x2 ratio. Full-screen HD viewing without any black bars on the sides thus requires giving up some vertical 'territory' in order to fill the entire width of  the 16x9 format. Not always easy, some slides just won't tolerate this treatment. Sometimes it helps to peel out a Kodachrome from its framing, where a tiny bit of image content was hidden by the frame. That can save you from an unacceptable cropping.

People Of The Sápmi

In 1882 the Danish researcher and teacher Sophus Tromholt travelled to Northern Norway in order to investigate and photograph the Polar Lights phenomenon. In between his work he took a keen interest in taking pictures of the native inhabitants of the area, formerly known as Lapland. Today the area is called Sápmi, wheras the original population is referred to as Sami.
Tromholt's energetic efforts resulted in a remarkable collection of glass-plate photographs, housed at the University of Bergen, Norway.

One of Tromholt's photographs of polar lights

Sophus Tromholt

Tromholt in Sami outfit at his Aurora Borealis observatory

It was my son on a vacation in Bergen who came across an exhibition of Tromholt's original black and white photographs at the University Library. Both he and I were familiar with Edward Curtis' world-famous images of the American Indians, which prompted him to inform me of the lesser known work of Tromholt. Internet material on Tromholt is not overwhelming, but a fair number of pictures can be found. Particularly some modern-day colored versions appear: This is the work of Per Ivar Somby, of Tromsø (and of Sami origin), who employs a skilful and disciplined coloring technique.

These color versions cannot replace or push aside Tromholt's original black and white photographs. Yet, to be honest, it is stunning how a little color energizes these pictures to jump at us across a gap of nearly 140 years. In the Kautokeino area, where most of these pictures were taken, the color images enjoy tremendous popularity. This is also due to Tromholt himself taking care to note down the names of everybody he took a portrait of, going against the grain of the times to view these people as primitive nomads. Thus the present day Sami can often identify their relatives from bygone days.

Somby at times takes the liberty to crop the original images, presenting us with close facial portraits that immediately strike us as very modern. These images reveal an amazing array of characters with composure, dignity, resilience. Men, women and even the children seem to be embedded in the wealth of experience that their lives at the frontier of the uninhabitable generates.
The Tromholt Collection has been included in UNESCO's Memory Of The World list.

Exhibition of Somby's color prints at the Tromsø Library

Somby with a color print

Farewell, Javiera...

Early February 2018 the sad news reached me that one of my most memorable students, Javiera Ubal Muñoz had passed away at age forty.
In the mid 90s Javiera was part of a mixed group of Drama and Dance students required to take an Esthetic Orientation course. Digital Design was the part of the course I was in charge of. This was an exciting new area at the time. And it was year one for me in a Swedish Senior Secondary school, after a long absence from the teaching profession.
I remember how amazed - and at times even awestruck - I was by the vivacious onslaught of talent facing me in the classroom. These dancing, singing, acting juveniles met me with a kind of mature benevolence that was almost unbelievable

At first Javiera stood out by ...poor attendance! We had a serious talk. And it became clear to me that her entry into the professional music world lay behind her "problem". Now, as exciting as this info was, it was not an acceptable excuse. But: the situation improved from then on. The practical part of my course could be directed to project work the students might have use for in furthering their career. Javiera - like some others - worked with posters, promotional imagery, illustrated CVs, leaflets and such. And our talks about music continued, including her musical activities in the school. At that time I hadn't yet heard about the tradition of my new school to conduct three "schoolshows" per year, where students would be on stage with song, dance and sketches. Javiera literally leaned on me, I must come to the next show, naturally with her taking part in it.
When teaching in Canada earlier, I had been keenly interested in similar types of student performances. Photography was one of my subjects there, I saw these events as interesting photo opportunities, for my students and myself.

Javiera & her Dance class, Schoolshow 1996

But not even that had prepared me for this Swedish schoolshow experience now unfolding before my eyes and ears! This was a performance with a truly professional feel! The students were well rehearsed, the program was varied, the sound management was flawless, as was the lighting and the stage smoke. And the student audience was as animated as the performers. Time and again Javiera teamed up on stage with teacher "Kexan" Eriksson for his backup vocals and guitar playing. It became perfectly clear to me then what a talent Javiera really was! Still, it would be wrong to say that she dominated the show. The standard was high, wall to wall.

Javiera & "Kexan" Eriksson, Schoolshow 1996

Then in 1998 the city of Gothenburg was struck by tragedy when 63 young people lost their lives in a blaze, caused by arson. Hundreds were injured, many severely with lifelong crippeling and disfiguring consequences. My school alone lost fifteen students, two of them from my classes. Javiera had graduated earlier, but had been a frequent guest performer in the school and in our area. In these sad days she took the initiative to create a CD to be sold with the proceeds going to support families struck by the catastrophy. Together with Jim Jidhed she recorded a new version of The Rose, made known by e.g. Bette Midler. Teacher/mentor Kexan Eriksson also took part in the project.

Javiera + Jim Jidhed  recording The Rose

As a teacher I was engaged in the difficult but meaningful work to alleviate the shock, pain and sorrow that had befallen our school and the whole city. Everybody who was in some way affected by the tragedy will witness as to how much every little act of compassion meant, sitting in silence with the mourning, practical help, holding a hand, a spontaneous hug, a pasted note expressing feelings. The same holds for Javieras dedication to help with The Rose. The song and its superb rendition released torrents of emotion among the stricken and helpers alike, torrents that needed to come forth, flow along, leading to some relief and building up the enormous feeling of solidarity, never experienced so intensely before or again.
Students in Javiera's former school also produced a video for The Rose, shown repeatedly on a local Cablevision channel.

Javiera's life contained ups and downs, even tragic difficulties and illness. For me Javiera's The Rose will always stand out as a fitting memorial of her superb talent, her solidarity and care for people in distress.

Destination: Winter

Winter can be a kind of "fifty shades of grey" experience in the western parts of Sweden. You often wake up and want to cry out "BORING!" as your leaden body has made it towards the window. The drab view gives your dulled state of mind all the confirmation it needs to conclude: Not a good day...
Well, we all know that even under these conditions you can turn things around and come up BIG with a strong carpe diem performance. Sometimes this may mean to opt for a determined escape. In this case from Gothenburg to Stockholm, with its often more attractive winter weather, by no means guaranteed though.
As an old train-travel afficionado with lots of rail-miles in my track record, rides have been few and far between during the last two decades. That's why modern day fast trains dashing through the landscape in a sort of ground-level flight are something special for me.
And yes, it was worth it. Stockholm city life is appealing even in winter, but I felt starved for snow and frost, so nature in suburban areas was my prime target on this trip.

Note: Show is hosted by Youtube. The first 1:25 minutes show pictures taken from the fast moving train. I didn't expect to get any useful pictures, due to speed, shaking and dirty windows. But some processing improved the images considerably. Just for fun I assembled the train-pictures to a sequence trying to simulate a train ride. This part does not always "flow" so well on the internet. Try 720p if the highest resolution stutters or stops. Or else, just move on to 1:25, it calms down there.

Slottsskogen - Autumn Images

Slottsskogen Park in Gothenburg consists of several large lawn areas, but also incorporates rather untouched forest parts, some dominated by deciduous trees. Autumn colors can be quite impressive there, even though I miss maple trees and the flaming red colors they bring.

One of my unstructured image sequences. Often I want this intermediate stage in order to evaluate the potential of a number of reasonably ok pictures, I like to view them in varying random sequences, matched with some music track that I like. This one by a group with the unlikely name Ending Satellites. Lovely piece, maybe a little to "assertive", but it closely matches the upbeat mood I inevitably find myself in strolling around taking these pictures.

New Year's Day 2018 - Gothenburg

More often than not the Christmas Season presents itself with less desirable weather - at least in the more southerly regions of Sweden. Much rain in Gothenburg, at best some shortlived whiteness from sleet and slush. Daylight is scarce, the ever shorter days of late fall caused discomfort and resentment. But now, as the low point is reached and the Season comes aglow, I embrace the darkness and the light it harbors. And any weather is welcome. It is good to walk around. Calming and peaceful, even though it may be on borrowed time. Faint, but undeniable, is that distant rumble. Sounds from chaos, turmoil and suffering. A feeling of "Everebody knows the boat i leaking, everybody knows the captain lied", as Leonard Cohen sang.
But right now no tanks roll down our streets. The chemical plant upstream has not been sabotaged. No blackened, gaping ruins surround us, no tattered survivors moan for help in half collapsed cellars.
Peace, justice, care for others. Immaterial things to hang on to. Mankind cannot make it without them. I don't know why, but somehow my upbeat mood watching milling snowflakes around streetlamps seems like a good start into a new year.

Sudden Winter -- Gothenburg Nov 21, 2017

In the middle of a dreary rain period: Two days of solid winter! A bit unusual in this coastal city. And what an opportunity to get some pictures for homemade Xmas cards!
But primarily the winter images came in handy for an example-show with a particular intent and for a certain audience. The background is this: Recent research strongly suggests a beneficial effect of "virtual" nature. Electronic visual material seems to influence us in a way comparable to real nature, at least under certain conditions.

Office HiRise, Milano

The effect is most noticable if the recipients suffer from various degrees of nature-deprivation. This could mean sick or handicapped people, folks in a rehab institution, senior citizens unable to get out as much as they used to, inmates of prisons or other closed institutions. And then think of those great urban temples of work, containing thousands of servants devoting more of their time than they like to. Some researchers look seriously at the popularity of screensavers featuring snowy peaks, waterfalls, flowery meadows and such.

My interest in image shows goes a long way back. Often my own  compilations were meant to be an element in an educational situation. A type of complement to other engaging or thought-provoking material like literature, films, popular music, sketches, panel discussions and the like. My first "slide"-shows I put together exclusively from copied paintings, drawings, photographs, mostly from books, mazines and newspapers. At that time my photography was only in its infancy.
In the course of my deepening interest in the natural world, photography became a way to hold on to the often so enriching and satisfying encounters with nature. A special role for me plays the "unspectacular" landscape, patches of nature around the corner, the local and regional scenery. Pictorial testimony of such encounters can open eyes and minds for a reality and beauty not quite expected in everyday life and at close quarters. And this emphasis is not in conflict with wanting to travel far and wide to see different places. These approaches are complementary and great ways to learn about both home and the world at large.

For me, sometimes the camera ist the horse before the cart, sometimes a direct nature-experience leads to heightened awareness and spurs towards expression with the camera. It also happens that a mental concept of the final image is the driving force. Somehow I live with a subliminal impression that an image - just like a poem, a song, a dance - can create small cracks and openings in our everyday-life encrustment. Strangely, the "cracking" power of seconday nature (images, words, sounds etc.) can at times be stronger than impressions straight from real nature. Unless we are hit with surprises, our somewhat dulled senses often do not take notice of the nature-miracle around us.

For some time now I have been interested in a type of "feelgood" show with images that do not primarily try to impress and "show off". Pictures from the viewer's local or regional surroundings can be more easily related to than to more exotic material. The ideal result of this pictorial communication would be a slight increase in the viewer's inclination to experience nature directly.

I designed this show with a presumptive medical "waiting room" audience in mind: People arrive, sit, wait, will be called in to doctors, nurses, labs at some nebulous time. New people arrive. Staff pass by all the time, talk sometimes. There is a stack of outdated lacklustre magazines. Interest in them is not overwhelming. There is a big TV screen. Often it is black. Sometimes a news channel is on. Imagine now, that in my target area, Gothenburg and surroundings, this particular show is seen during the fall/early winter season. Many people in the room would know of the Änggårdsbergen nature reserve. Quite a few of them would have been there, some regularly on jogging rounds, walks, mountain bike excursions. It would be interesting to find out how image shows of this type will be received.

The future will show if "electronic nature" can have a beneficial effect - and can be enjoyed without pitfalls. Already there are known instances of e.g. denying frail people a human-assisted (expensive!) outing, keeping them inside to watch nature images on a screen (cheap!).
Read more about this show and the thoughts behind it, plus some technical details.

Beach Country - The North Of Denmark

Denmark is well known for its sandy beaches, much appreciated by summer tourists. During the cooler seasons - especially in the north - the crowds have dispersed and the beaches invite to solitary walks and - at times - provide you with rather rugged nature experiences. Tastes of salty spray, horizontal rain, umbrella wrecking gusts: all this can give you a bit of a challenge. Especially when you are out with a camera. But not so seldom glorious sunlight and majestic clouds will enact an impressive interplay with surf and sand for you.
These images are from different locations near the fishing- and ferry-hub of Hirtshals.

The soundtrack music is composed and produced by an old favorite of mine, Klaus Schønning. Especially his musical portrait of Copenhagen stands out as a masterpiece in the genré loosely defined as "New Age/Electronic". One track from this album I used for another image show: Making It Home On Friday.

Incidently, there is one more show on a Hirtshals beach, click here to go there.

Hirtshals Harbor

Wondrous Days - Roaming About The Snasa Heights, Jämtland

September is a good time to visit "our" Jämtland cottage, owned by close relatives. Autumn with all its colors comes early here. And all mosquitos, horse flies and gnats that usually make summer visits an unnerving and painful experience: all dead and gone by now.

Our place lies half way up in Sweden, which means a solid 1000 road km from Gothenburg, 700 km from Stockholm (see map below). Naturally, you don't drive up there every second weekend...

Cabin in the making, logs are windfall from the Gudrun storm in 2005

Besides recreation, there was a purpose for our visit. For years the space in the cottage has been insufficient to accomodate all interested relatives during popular times, mostly around Easter when the skiing is at its best. Thats why construction of a separate cabin has been going on for more than a year now. This fall the goal was to get the grass-roof in place before winter strikes. And we did it.

For me, not an expert builder, there were plenty of opportunities to get up into the Snasa Heights, barely a 10 min drive from our place. One morning I tuned in our classical station while driving. Some kind of modern piece was heard, a lot of strings, not exactly easy listening material, not very romantic either. But very vibrant and assertive. At the same time, the first glimpses of the landscape were stunning, partly shrouded in drifting veils of mist. Suddenly the music jelled into something like nature's own voice for me. Not one voice: many voices, neither in harmony nor in disharmony. Goose bumps.

At the parking area I grabbed the camera and was to dash off for pictures, yet for a while I couldn't tear myself from the radio and the music. It was still going and no announcement of title and composer had been made yet. I couldn't stay long enough to find out. Later I went up and down and sideways through Youtube for String Quartets and such. I listened to Shostakovich, Stenhammar, Schoenberg, Webern, Philip Glass, Alban Berg, Schnittke, Dvořák, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philippe Manoury, Mieczysław Weinberg. Learned a lot, but never found the exact piece for my planned image show. I finally chose Salonen, an outstanding Scandinavian composer/conductor. He is also someone drawn to experimentation, like blending classic instruments with electronic techniques. Some of that can be heard in the soundtrack.
After selecting excerpts from Salonen's Cello Concerto Nr.2, I learned that the piece was very recent, receiving its premiere in Chicago, March 2017. This version was recorded by YLE, the finnish Radio and TV system, in Helsinki in August 2017. You might find it on Youtube.