Stockholm Stay
I’m not going to talk much about the boat ride from Helsinki to Stockholm. Those who know me well or have been reading this blog are aware that I’m no fan of cruise ships. I’ve always felt they are tacky and tedious. I spent most of the trip in my stateroom watching better produced television shows and snacking on the healthier foods I brought on board in my backpack than I would be able to find any where else on the ship. My one unusual experience occurred when I awoke at five o’clock in the morning to photograph some of Sweden’s off shore islands. I found an Asian family sleeping on the cushions in the window alcoves at the end of my corridor. They seemed frightened when they woke as I passed by. That’s all I know about what is likely a very sad story.
When I reached Stockholm I took a train out to the suburb of Soletuna where I stayed with Pam Theurer at her home. This was the second time I’ve stayed with Pam. No, we are not now, nor have we ever been a “thing” but we do go back a long way. We graduated the same year from Gloversville High School, and attended many of the same classes. In addition to that, our mothers grew up together in the the same rural village and continued to be friends as adults. Pam and I are also descendants of the Palatine Germans who settled the Stone Arabia area a little over 300 years ago. Once there, this small group proceeded to marry each other for the next 200 years. As a result Pam and I are probably second or third cousins four or five times over.
It was nice staying at Pam’s place. It was conveniently located, warm and comfortable, and saved me a lot of cash. Stockholm would have been otherwise very expensive. She also provided more tasty food than I could possibly consume, and her cable system included all of the major U.S. television and movie channels.
This chapter will be the shortest of all that I’ve written for my blog and contain the fewest photos. This trip I couldn’t follow my usual method of exploration nor of the photography that results from such exploration.
I really don’t have a philosophy or controlling rationale that determines what I shoot. Usually I will wander rather aimlessly in a new location for hours, half day dreaming and half looking for any subject that raises a subconscious emotional reaction. The emotion raised can be either a positive or negative one. I don’t set out looking for either. Only when a subject snaps me fully awake do I get down to business and methodically set up the best possible shot. I couldn’t use this “method” during this trip to Sweden. I did use it the first time I traveled to Sweden eight years ago. Pam was working at the time and I had my days to myself. Pam has since retired and had set up a planned itinerary that we would visit together. The two locations she had selected were extremely interesting and beautiful: The Stockholm Photography Museum, (Fotografiska), and the Artipelag Museum which is located about 30 miles outside of Stockholm in a rural forest that borders the ocean. Both museums were very enjoyable, but I really didn’t get any good shots. Every picture I took at these locations was just repeating some idea some one else had set up, and when traveling to and from these museums I didn’t have time to let my mind wander or set up the best shot of what I was seeing on the way. Instead I spent my time trying to maintain a conversation or anticipating what my friend wanted to show me.
The Fotografiska did, however, present some extraordinary photography. I was most impressed by photos that combined digital photography with a cell phone application. This combination created an animated picture from the stationary photo on the wall when you viewed it through your cell phone screen. For example, one picture was a colorful presentation of a little girt in a flower garden. If you had downloaded the appropriate application on your cell phone, scanned the code next to the picture and then held your phone’s camera in front of the picture, you could see butterflies fluttering about the little girl’s head. Unfortunately I can’t reproduce any of these pictures here. You’ll have to take my word that these pictures were a remarkable marriage of art and technology.
The Fotografiska was also hosting an exhibition of my favorite large format travel photographer, Jimmy Nelson. I did take a couple of pictures of his work which I am posting below.
While walking back from the Fotografiska to the train station we decided to take a detour through the historic district where most of the government buildings are located. We ran into a great deal of construction at the edge of this district. Sweden has been spending a great deal of money on improving its infrastructure which is a good thing, but it can make navigating this part of the city a bit confusing.
Everything opened up once we entered the historical center of the city. In one of the main squares sat a statue of Sweden’s king Charles XIV John. How he arrived on the throne is an interesting story. His birth name was Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, and he was one of Napoleon’s most successful generals. In 1810 he was elected heir-presumptive of the then reigning King Charles XIII, who was childless, by the Swedish Rik-stag of States. He became king in 1818. As a man of action, he was a dynamic ruler who reversed Sweden’s decline, and is remembered for that reason.
The next day we took a bus out to the Artipelag Museum which was located on a wooded finger of land that extended out into the Baltic Sea. Inside we viewed an extensive exhibition of the furniture and design artifacts of the Italian designer and manufacturer Piero Fornasetti. Outside, we found various sculptures scattered through the woods and on the ocean shore.
The next day I boarded a bus for Oslo, Norway. I expected to immediately see mountains and rugged scenery, but I soon learned that much of central Sweden consisted of relatively flat farmland. There wasn’t much to see until I reached the border with Norway, the last stop on my trip through Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
Since this chapter is relatively short and thin on photography I will leave you with one of my better pictures of Stockholm, (though from a previous visit).
