I haven’t been to a Trader Vic’s in probably 45 years. The last time was somewhere in West Hollywood in Los Angeles (on Robertson or San Vincente Blvd?) and it was likely with my mother and one or more of her friends.

I remember being a little freaked out/excited about the Polynesian sculptures, totem poles, warrior masks, ornately carved shields, wooden spears and the restaurant’s huge fire pit.

Tonight we enjoyed a sumptuous three course dinner at Trader Vic’s here in the Seychelles. Like I remembered from my previous visit, almost half a century ago, both the interior and exterior of this Trader Vic’s was richly decorated with the similarly, somewhat sinister looking busts and heads stemming from Maori, Hawaiian and Tahitian mythology as well as a whole lot of other less serious props and trimmings.

Before our meal, we enjoyed two classic Trader Vic cocktails at one of the most well-stocked bars I’ve been served at in a long, long time: Mai Tai and Tiki Puka Puka. The friendly bartender above was literally and physically behind our tasty beverages.

On my way to Stockholm for the weekend. To capture a few frames of the capital’s gorgeous architecture and textures. And to see a few old friends. Taking the train. Nothing beats a train ride through Sweden’s lush summer landscape.

Ten days in Los Angeles – primarily Venice Beach – is food for the soul. For mine, anyway. I’ve met family, spent time with a few old friends and made some new, interesting acquaintances. Most importantly, there’s  been adequate time for well-needed introspection. On life in general and more specifically on what I should focus on creatively henceforth. What will propel and satisfy me into the next phase? Where will the next challenges come from?

Change is good. Challenges are better.

It’s soon time for new endeavors. Geographically and artistically. This is precisely what I’ve been contemplating/pondering whilst surfing, running or shooting under the California sun.

Through an unforeseen but nonetheless fortunate chain of events, I met a couple of inspiring fellows during morning coffee at Cow’s End; Larry, a photographer and visual artist and Roy, a short story film director and writer. I met both just after my arrival to L.A., which in itself made the trip worthwhile. Creatively speaking, that is.

Roy and I had actually met during last year’s visit. This time, he introduced me to Larry who had also just recently finished a book project about Vietnam and could fully relate to the creative void I’ve been experiencing following the publication of the book about Malmö Opera.

Like every morning these last three visits to Venice, I take in my morning coffee (two shots of Guatemalan espresso topped off with a few drops of organic coconut milk) at Cow’s End together with a group of locals – most of which have worked or still work in the film and/or entertainment industry.

I barely know everyone by name, but there is certainly no shortage of interesting and inspiring characters among them.

Enjoyed another 10k run this before coffee morning. It’s finally getting warmer and sunnier. Hope it stays that way until it’s time to head back to what I hear is an almost despicably but not unheard of cold and wet Scandinavian summer.

There something special about the Pacific Ocean here in Southern California. I hadn’t thought of it before this morning’s surf. But the cool temperature and mild but pronounced salinity makes it somehow comfortable and easy to spend a long time in the waves. Which is good when sets are far few between. Not like this morning when they just kept rollin’ in.

After an unusually long gestation period, I can finally unveil what is arguably the most inspiring project I have ever worked on thus far: a new, 240 page coffee table book called, We are Malmö Opera. I’ve designed a site for the book as well with a slew of additional images (outtakes) and a condensed version of how the project began, a brief description of my workflow and a link to where you can order your copy/copies of the new book.

Shot this a few years ago somewhere over the Öresund strait – a part of southern Scandinavia where the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea converge between Denmark and Sweden. It’s one those images I can’t honestly remember taking. Which isn’t that surprising, really, But I’m still going to keep it. It represents one of those moments in my life where I left my comfort zone (and the comfort of the Earth’s gravity) for new perspectives.

Skånes rapsfält. Hur vackra är dom inte så här års? Och doften, sen då? Ljuvlig. Jag har verkligen tagit fasta på det där man säger lite flyhänt att man skall stanna upp lite och lukta på blommorna. Känns sunt och livsbejakande. Är verkligen less på inomhustillvaron och all evinnerlig, oåterkallelig tid jag lägger framför skärmen.

Tonight Charlotte and I enjoyed something new at Hai – one Malmö’s two good Japanese restaurants. We ate a tasty Hawaiian dish called “Poke” /poʊˈkeɪ/ which according to Wikipedia is Hawaiian for “to section” or “to slice or cut”. Poke is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine, and sometimes as an entree. Traditional forms are aku (an oily tuna) and he’e (octopus). We had the not-so-oily tuna which was basically cut into sashimi slices and placed together with other goodies on a bed of sushi rice. It’s a hyped dish here in Malmö but simple enough to make at home.

Snart är galleriet tömd. Bara några få möbler och min arbetsstation är kvar. I studion är i stort sett allt sålt. Känns oerhört befriande. “Sista svepningen har inga fickor” som gamla grannen i Göteborg, Siw Swahnberg, brukade påminna mig om gång efter annan med tillägget, “Samla på minnen, inte prylar, Joakim”.

Not too long ago, I shot over to Lithuania for a short shoot. As during last year’s fashion assignment in Vilnius, I once again opted to work with the always easy-going model Karolina Janickaite. And despite the extremely unsupportive weather conditions (rain, snow and then more rain followed by snow), within an hour’s time, we still got all the shots we needed. Karo’s wardrobe was designed by Erika Kiele for Second Me.

En liten vink till norska succéserien, SKAM som jag producerade för en mycket välkänd kund i transportbranschen i februari. Tyvärr blev reklamfilmen aldrig visad på bio på grund av intern oenighet om farbroderns ansiktsuttryck….go figure.