May 31, 2020
Fred Nicholas’ Centennial Celebration
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This is Fred Nicholas, by far the Raboff family’s oldest friend. When I took that photo, early last year, Fred was 99. And yesterday he turned 100. Think about that for a moment. Think about what it would be like to have been born 1920, just a few years after WWI and so close to the last global pandemic (Spanish Flu). To have experienced the Great Depression, WWII, the escalation of the Cold War – and so much else – and still be around to remember it all vividly. So many historic milestones.

While turning 100 is in itself an incredible achievement, the fact that Fred is still sharp as a knife has a great sense of humor and a memory that blows me away makes his centennial celebration all the more noteworthy and inspiring.

My father, Ernest Raboff, and Fred met as soldiers sometime during World War II and with a few gaps thereafter, maintained their friendship until my dad passed away in the fall of 1986.

We visit Fred and his family every time we’ve been back to L.A. and no trip feels complete without a long lunch or dinner with him and his son Tony or with Joan before she passed. Due to the pandemic, we couldn’t make it to what was going to be a huge birthday bash for Fred at the Hillcrest Country Club. But I did get to speak with him today, just after he’d swam his morning laps in the pool!

The mayor of Los Angeles was among the many of Fred’s friends to congratulate and thank him for all his tremendous work for the cultural scene in Los Angeles. His achievements are far too many to list here, so I highly recommend visiting this website dedicated to Fred and produced by his son, Anthony Nicholas of Lapis Press.

May 28, 2020
Old School Mowing
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From earlier today. Charlotte and I usually divide mowing the lawn here in Vejbystrand. Our neighbors insist on using an old huffing and puffing, carbon fuel emitting machine called “Stig”. But we both prefer getting a little extra cardio exercise from pushing and pulling our old school, manual mower. It’s a Husqvarna and brand new, so the blades are still sharp and as long as we don’t let the grass grow too high, mowing is a breeze.

May 27, 2020
Birds of Vejbystrand
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So this morning I woke up at an ungodly hour to pee. After struggling out of bed (my back is out of whack), I realized that it wasn’t my bladder that woke me. It was the cacophony of chirping birds in the garden and adjacent meadow. There was no wind whatsoever. I put on my shoes, strolled over to the studio, found my Zoom H6 recorder and dialed in the highest possible fidelity settings (96kHz/24bit), and began recording with the x/y capsule multidirectional microphones. I know nothing about birds, but have a decent collection of them here – including the one above. This is only a minute of a 3-hour long recording. For a hour’s immersive experience (with some distant cows to boot), feel free to click right here.

May 26, 2020
Bang! Bang!
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After living with so many months under the shadows of big, bold headlines conveying disaster, tragedy, and destitution related to the pandemic, you end up expecting nothing less when you log on to NYT, SVD, or LAT. Classic conditioning. Our unconscious friend is still unconscious and we are still hoping for a miraculous turnaround – but preparing, mostly subconsciously, for sadness.

May 25, 2020
Resurfaced in Vietnam
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Keeping a lookout for exteriors to “resurface” has certainly added an investigative dimension to daily life. Not that I still don’t constantly compose scenes, that’s a hard habit to quit. But looking for interesting combinations of weathered and decayed surfaces to resurface makes even mundane strolls and chores a bit more purposeful and interesting. This wall is from Vietnam.

May 24, 2020
Artist Statement
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I’ve been crafting my artist’s statement for a while now. Not actually writing anything. More thinking and pondering what it is I want to say and why I want to say it. The purpose of an artist’s statement is to clarify a vision and the reasoning behind a particular project or collection of themed work.

My ongoing series, “Resurfaced” is both a counter-reaction to my diminishing interest in the easily attainable – aesthetically pleasing but boring images – and a growing delight in what most regard as deterioration, decay, and disrepair. When I see an old wall, I don’t just see an old wall. I look at it with imaginative interest to see if it somehow speaks to me and has a story to tell. As most surfaces that I document are located outdoors – mostly in a public space – I know that over time the composition’s original elements will consequentially change; paint fades, concrete cracks, posters tear, and so on.

Read my statement here. View the Resurfaced series here.

May 22, 2020
Italian Gelato Made In Sweden
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I shot this about 10 years ago in northern Italy. We were there to research a story about Bergamo for a Swedish travel magazine (Allt om Resor) and relished in great food and drink during the entire week. Best of all was the abundance of gelato shops and best of the gelato shops gelato was – and still my favorite – pistachio flavored gelato. I mention this since I’ve just been hired to produce an inspiring short film about a brand new gelato brand, made in Sweden with Italian ingredients and an old school, traditional recipe. I was provided with a sample after meeting with the client and can vouch for that their gelato would compete extremely well amongst the best gelato made in Bergamo or elsewhere in Italy.

May 21, 2020
Canola Fields Vejbystrand
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Shot earlier today during an excursion around the village. We had to drive around a bit before finding a few adjacent fields. They seem to be fewer and further between here – when compared to deeper south and southeast in Skåne. Love how the flowers smell and on a nice warm day like this, with barely no wind, the rich yellow color is almost hypnotic.

May 20, 2020
Infected Friend & Chaos
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A composition I located yesterday on yet another anonymous, interesting surface somewhere in Lund, Sweden. The layered, cluttered chaos intrigues me. I suppose pieces like this attract me as I live – elastically – between a reasonable amount of structure and uncontrollable chaos. Creatively, that is.

Mere days after pointing out here that I have yet to personally know of anyone that had been infected by Covid-19, did we learn that a friend is now hospitalized, unconscious, and breathing through a respirator.

We haven’t seen him or his wife since last spring, when Elle graduated High School, but this very sad news obviously shoved Charlotte and myself into a state of shock – just as I assumed it would. Our hopes and thoughts are with him and his family. Everybody, please be safe out there.

May 18, 2020
Fleeing the Fields
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Shot this yesterday afternoon during a 10k walk along the sea and through a couple of farms. Fleeing the fields for a couple of days. Work calls me back to Lund for yet another podcast episode. I am hosting/moderating yet another discussion between three distinguished gentlemen and automotive experts.

May 16, 2020
2020 Vejby Baby Tees
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Here’s our new Vejby Baby t-shirts. Until further notice, these Fruit of the Loom cotton tees can be purchased exclusively at Sandgårdens Skafferi in Vejbystrand. I delivered 27 t-shirts in various sizes and hues to Therese yesterday afternoon. So if you’re a fan of Vejbystrand and want share the love, get ‘em while they’re hot!

May 16, 2020
NEW PODCAST
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In this episode, the participants are Robert Falk, CEO of Einride, Peter Janevik, CEO of Asta Zero and until recently a member of the Board of Directors of Terranet, as well as Christian Larsson, an expert in autonomous and advanced driver support systems at AFRY and Product Manager at Terranet.

The episode’s guests provide insightful thoughts on some of the challenges facing today’s and future autonomous vehicle systems. A topic that has become extremely relevant considering the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation is in Swedish.

May 14, 2020
Aquatically Reinvigorated in Lund
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Back in Lund again to shoot an elevator pitch. Also hosting a podcast about the current state and future of autonomous vehicles with three expert guests, Robert Falk, CEO för Einride, Peter Janevik, CEO för Asta Zero and until recently board member of Terranet and Christian Larsson, expert på advanced driver assistance technology at AFRY and SVP Product Management at Terranet. You can enjoy the podcast here (in Swedish).

I’m fairly sure 154 is my fifth room here at Grand. Once I’ve experienced one I like, I tend to stay put for a while before moving on to the next. While 154 is smaller than the others, I appreciate the front-facing view, blue tapestry, and the full-length bathtub. The bathroom in 154 is tiny, much smaller than in any of the other rooms. The small size reminded of the bathroom in my old bachelor pad in Göteborg at Vidblicksgatan 5. Though small, it too had a full-size tub in which I spent many hours.

We haven’t lived in an apartment equipped with a tub in just shy of 20 years. So I make sure to book a room with one whenever and wherever I can. Tonight, after dinner and before bed, I slid into the warm bathtub, got comfy, and listened to the latest episode of The Daily from the New York Times with excellent host Michael Barbaro. I’m fully aware that the “Times” is a liberal-leaning outlet, but their quality of journalism, especially in the human-interest genre, is nonetheless top-notch.

Tonight I’ll be re-watching Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in the brilliant adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shawshank Redemption. Spread over 25 years, this is probably the fifth or sixth time I’ve seen it. One of the few advantages of growing older is that I tend to forget bits and pieces of some of my favorite movies. They’re not totally unpredictable – heck, I’m not that old yet. But rewatching them, even after just a few years, is usually long enough for me to have forgotten some of the story’s details and plot twists. It’s kinda comforting when none of the stuff on Netflix, HBO, SVT intrigues me.

May 13, 2020
Morning Qigong
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From earlier this morning after a long walk. Charlotte filmed me doing one of my favorite morning Qigong exercises in our small enchanted forest aka Trollskogen. The “Connecting Sky & Ground” is a simple enough move to learn, yet it’s also wonderfully effective at activating key muscles and ligaments in the knees and thighs as well as throughout the torso. I use it primarily in the morning as part of an hour-long session. By the way…Qi means energy and Gong means movement or moving. Qi-Gong is therefore loosely defined as moving energy. In this case, the energy you have stored in your body and should release in order to feel less stiff and more fluid.

May 12, 2020
Information Overload
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From a wall somewhere in Lund. I think the abundance of layers in this particular piece speaks volumes to me about the tsunami of information we are wading in right now. I feel a bit overloaded and need to ration my intake.

May 10, 2020
Puppy Love
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Today we visited a small, family-run kennel a couple of hours from Vejbystrand. Charlotte’s been yearning for a dog for several years and she’s finally narrowed down her choice of breed to the incredibly cute and lovable Dachshund. This will be our third dog after a Miniature Schnauzer and Standard Schnauzer, both of which – like the Dachshund – is of German descent and were once primarily used to capture badgers and rats. The new dog’s name? Lennart.

May 9, 2020
Growing Stuff and Thinking of Eskil & Agnes
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I don’t know exactly why, but I feel proud somehow that my Grandfather and Grandmother were farmers.

There’s something inherently honest about farming. It’s so fundamental to our existence and makes most of today’s professions seem constructed, superficial and retroactively rationalized – until we don’t even question their actual usefulness anymore. 

Come to think about it, most modern occupations only exist as a consequence of our way of life – not because they’re quintessential or critical to our ability to survive as a species.

I have vividly fond memories of staying with Grandpa Eskil and Grandma Agnes as a young boy. Fact is, of all my childhood memories, the couple of years I spent with them – spread over a five or six-year period – were among my best. Now, I don’t know if I’m romanticizing those visits because living with my mother was such a fucking nightmare. Probably. In any case, Grandma Agnes was always extremely kind, gentle, and loving towards me. Which was something I had little experience with but likely helped me gain insight into what selfless love looked, sounded and, felt like.

When I visited, during the early and mid-1970s, the farm was winding down. The cows, chickens, and horses were gone. Ingo, the cute but horrendously smelly Beagle, was still around. Grandpa Eskil, a hopelessly macho man with a prosthetic leg and short temper, still hunted moose and plowed the few fields he had left with an old Volvo tractor and harvester. Eventually, the car manufacturer SAAB absorbed the remaining fields…and so, after their farming days were over, there wasn’t much left for my grandparents to do but get older and eventually pass on.

Aside from those visits to my mother’s parents and growing sunflowers on a balcony in Götebrog when I lived there, I have zero experience in farming. But somehow it feels almost inevitable that I would at some stage in my life explore what it’s like to grow at least some of my own food. And I can’t think of a more apt time than right now to learn how to cultivate at least a few tasty veggies. I’ve got a lot of organic seeds to plant over the next couple of days.

May 8, 2020
Canola Season
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Here’s a video I shot for Erik Schneider a couple of years ago. I came to think of it as I was riding the train today through amazing yellow fields.

May 7, 2020
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Back in Lund today. Sunshine everywhere. Hard to think apocalyptically when the weather is so damn wonderful. Spoke to an old buddy who’s a lawyer and he’s keeping busy. Lots of separations and negotiations. Ae we are holding our breaths? Is the situation going to get a lot worse before getting better?

Another friend told me of a new Swedish airline starting up soon. Sounds hopeful. I feel hopeful. Optimistic, even. Perhaps I’m in denial and not even aware of it. I don’t let my mind swerve too much of Sanity Lane. What purpose would that serve? None. Another friend told me he enjoyed not having to deal with crowds. That he didn’t miss having to share public spaces with others. I totally get that. Like the author Charles Bukowski once wrote, “It’s not that I don’t like people. I just feel better when they’re not around”.

I think that’s pretty much the collective sentiment of my demographic right now.

Shot the above while wandering aimlessly around town this afternoon after the shoot. I tried really hard to get lost today. But Lund is just too small.

May 6, 2020
Yoga & Qigong
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I made this collage for a client a while ago. I used a bunch of photos from different yoga shoots in the old studio (the one next to Turning Torso in Malmö) and then removed the white background in order to create silhouettes of the model which I then added color to.

Now that the sun rises so early, I have no problem waking up at the crack of dawn. My new studio is the smallest I’ve had yet but it is still roomy enough to allow me to practice every yoga pose and Qigong movement I know of. When in Lund, depending on the room I am assigned at the hotel and because I never bring my yoga mat, I stick to a half-hour or forty minutes of intense Qigong.

Charlotte was still asleep when I returned energized and ready to take on the day’s projects. I’m still amazed at how much energy I enjoy after an hour of Qigong and Yoga. I hope to soon be able to practice outdoors on the deck. Or, somewhere in the meadow.