Nearing the end of my 20 session, two week intensive Qigong course. It’s indisputably been a challenge, both physically and mentally. Most of the other participants are already instructors or heading that way. So, I’ve been practicing together with quite an esteemed troop – which in turn has provided me with the opportunity to learn […]
One day, I just happened to arrive about a half an hour early to one of our Qigong sessions in Chiang Mai at a local University (which I was told was entirely funded by the US government). And since the chairs were organized in a proper circle, it reminded me of what a group therapy […]
Just had to share tonight’s dinner, a homemade Pad Thai Tofu dish that tasted exactly as splendid as it looks. I had kindly requested that Pak Chi Farang (Long Leaf Coriander or, Sawtooth Coriander) would be added to the meal. And then all I had to do to get it exactly where I wanted it […]
There’s no course for me on Sundays, so I waited for my clean laundry to arrive and then went to Chiang Mai’s popular Sunday Market in the old town. The trick to getting the most out of any kind of open-air, tourist-focused market is to be an early bird and get there just as the […]
In September, I’m having two separat exhibits. Both in Malmö. One is an outdoor show between September 15th and the 29th in our beautiful Slottsträdgården, an area dedicated to flowers and other flora and located in Castle Park (Slottsparken). The other will be held during Gallery Night (gallerinatten) at Rådhuset at Malmö’s Stortorget (the city’s […]
It’s been an incredibly interesting week at the Qigong course where confusion is at times replaced with clarity and understanding, only to be smothered later with yet more confusion. I don’t mean confusion as in what’s being taught is by any means nonsensical or, that I ‘m not getting it. Not at all. It’s just […]
Some afternoons after class, I walk around the old town and shoot textures and basically anything that grabs my attention. There’s something very meditative about photography when it’s unhinged from any particular mission or objective. Very enjoyable, indeed. If I’m in town long enough, I’ll then hitch a ride with my host, Khun Dow, the […]
The fifteenth of August, 1998. Twenty one years ago today. That’s when Charlotte and I exchanged rings just before we were pronounced man and wife by the family priest, Ola Stålnacke in Brunnby Church, near Mölle-by-the-Sea in Skåne. It rained most of that day, and boy, was I nervous before and during most of the […]
Got to the morning session a little early today and took a few photos around the clinic’s garden. It’s called a clinic because of the focus on benefits gained from learning and practicing the Chinese Medical Qigong system taught there. Today a lovely couple in their 80s joined us for a few hours and I […]
Walked passed this wonderful bookstore a couple of days ago in the old town of Chiang Mai. A younger version of me used to read a lot of books, fiction and non-ficktion. For at least a decade I was a huge Stephen King fan and read everything he produced. But it’s probably been a dozen […]
Khun Dow, my host here at the homestay, continues to impress me with her excellent cooking. Everything she makes for me taste like it’s the original recipe. The massaman curry she served the other night was just superb. A simple yet so full of flavor, aroma and texture. What I enjoy most about Thai food […]
Got caught in one of our daily thunderstorms yesterday. It’s monsoon season here, so I’m not exactly taken aback by the frequency of torrential downpour. The trick, however, is when the floodgates of heaven do open up, you need to be somewhere dry and pleasant. Like sitting in a comfy café or a getting a […]
Shot this beautifully aged and decrepit wall in some alley here in Chiang Mai. I can’t get enough of this kind of abstract urban art. I don’t “read” in much to what I see. Instead, I just find it interesting when I locate a series of scuff marks, wall cracks, chipped paint and crater holes […]
For a while now, I’ve been promising myself to once again quit, or, at least take another prolonged break from the confines and shackles of social media. Studying Qigong below the hills of Chiang Mai seemed like an optimal opportunity to initiate this decision. My main argument is and has always been that these channels, […]
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, abbreviated ASMR, is where some people experience that certain repetitive sounds and visuals are extremely satisfying to listen to and watch. What exactly triggers an ASMR reaction is up to individual preference, but can include as mundane things as people mixing stuff, kneading dough or clay, walking in a quiet forest, eating […]
I met this dude briefly during a walk around the old town yesterday afternoon. He surprised me by saying something in English as I was getting a shot of the old wooden house next to his. Don’t remember what it was he said, but the fact that he had spoken to me (and chuckled afterward) […]
The mother in the Thai family that has the homestay where I’ll be for the next couple of weeks, cooks me dinner every night after returning home from her vegetable shop at the Kat Kom market in Chiang Mai. They probably don’t get a lot of guests that are pescatarians, but she still has no […]
I spent most of my 30 hour stay in Bangkok – before boarding the night train to Chiang Mai – at a basic, yet clean and quiet, hotel/hostel located not more than a 15 minute walk from the capital’s central station, aka Hua Lamphong, in Chinatown. The room I’d booked was perfect for my needs […]
Charlotte is fascinated whenever I can identify a car brand or share some obscure knowledge about automobiles. I’m the first to admit that my interest is mysteriously unexplainable. I don’t drive and just barely know how to refuel a car, so why I can state distinguishing facts about different car manufacturers is just plain weird. […]
I don’t remember when I last took a night train to Chiang Mai. It could quite possibly have been as far back as 1998 when Charlotte and I spent a week of our month-long honeymoon trekking the mountains somewhere north of Chiang Mai and south of Chiang Rai, sharing meals and sleeping over at several […]
Last night’s flight over Europe and much of East Asia was extremely bumpy. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I’d apparently picked an aisle seat far back in the cabin. When I arrived at 56C, a Danish couple roughly my age had already made themselves comfortable and were busy munching from a greasy bag of […]
This was our gorgeous model Monika Bauden on Majid Raoufpanah’s beautiful Harley 1250 – captured during yesterday evening’s shoot. We had three different locations around where Nordic Street Food is located at the railway roundhouse “lokstallarna” in Kirseberg, Malmö. Just discovered the area a nd really loved shooting there with Henry, Monika and Majid. Here’s […]
I was hired the other day to photograph tasty looking burgers, crispy fries and a bunch of drinks at a new restaurant here in Malmö called “Dockside Burgers & Bar”. Shot the above video with the Gopro Hero 7 and my iPhone X. “Freedom Fries”, for those that don’t get that reference, was what Republican […]
I just stumbled on to this great pictorial at Buzzfeed about a classic Americana concept; drive-in theatres. They still exist today, but aren’t nearly as wide-spread or in vogue as they were when I was a kid. Especially in rural America. Now, growing up in West Hollywood meant there was clearly no shortage of movie […]
We had friends over for lunch yesterday. Like us, they too are addicted to traveling the world, exploring new places, meeting new people and being inspired by new cultural experiences. Unsurprisingly, most of lunch was spent on travel talk; favourite destinations, future travel plans and how we’d all love to be able to afford business […]
So far, there have been four dogs in my life. Two as I was growing up in the US and two in Sweden. Grandfather Eskil had a really smelly Beagle named Ingo that showed me a lot of affection when I lived with him and Grandma Agnes in Trollhättan in the mid 1970s – but […]
Charlotte and I biked into town last night to have dinner at “Mineral”, which, according to my dear wife, is still one of Malmö’s most popular vegetarian eateries. We’ve dined there before, so I kinda knew it was going to be good. I’ve just started a period of intermittent fasting and so, since dinner was […]
Back in Malmö again after a couple of days of work and birthday celebrations with friends up at Nösunds Värdshus on the island of Orust, northwest of Göteborg. The 22nd was my 56th year on this strange, beautiful planet. I’m no less confused today about what life is all about than when I first opened […]
I usually write something about Tyko on the 21st of July. Today would of been the 52nd birthday of our brother. Still, after 16 years, it’s difficult to accept that I’ll never see him or hear his laugh again. What I miss the most was our talks about shared childhood experiences and how though much […]
My third post today. I can’t remember when that happened last. Whatever. Sometimes I’m so inspired and the ideas just magically flow fluidly all the way through to execution. Today was one of those rare days. I could literally have posted at least two more entries. Anyway, my first creative endeavor this balmy Saturday was […]
I created this collage from collection of photos I took of model Tora Rosenkjaer a couple of years ago. I’ve been weirdly fascinated with silhouettes and have had the backgrounds of hundreds of my studio photos removed to create them. Not unlike traffic signs, I suppose it’s the straightforwardness of silhouettes that’s so appealing to […]
I made a fruit salad for me and Elle this morning after our swim in the sea. The salad made me think of Goa. And for some reason, it turns out that I had completly forgotten to add Goa to the travel section here. After three visits to the former Portuguese colony, Goa has become […]
Sunny summer mornings in Malmö are spectacular. Got up at 06:00 am this morning, took a peek out the window and discovered that there was hardly any wind at all. Got dressed, hopped on my bike and rode out to Lilla Torg (Little Square) to photograph a bird’s eye view of the city with the […]
“Yoga by the Sea” is an idea I’d thought about for a few years, probably when I started getting serious about yoga as a complimentary way to stay in decent shape. As it turned out, the concept of a yoga class on the giant wooden deck by Scaniabadet here in Malmö came to fruition when […]
Yesterday, a friend from somewhere outside of San Francisco sent me a link to an old New Yorker interview with the painter Georgia O’Keeffe. Here’s the link. I’ve been a fan of O’Keeffe’s work ever since studying at art college back in 1990. She had such a free-flowing, boundless relationship to her art and a […]