This is some excerpts from a much longer version of a video I produced in February and March presenting a young and extremely talented tennis player by the name of Erik Carlsten. The goal – in the 8 minute version – was to showcase Erik’s forehand, backhand, serve and smash during a few realistically played games with his trainer, Dennis. The above isn’t outtakes, just a shorter version with some slow motion added more as an effect than anything else.
Jag är lång, stabil och blänker fint i både solljus och hemmets belysning. Jag käftar aldrig emot och behåller mina åsikter för mig själv. Du kan alltid luta dig mot mig när du behöver och jag blir inte ledsen eller upprörd om du klämmer på mig då och då. Du kan ha mig framme vid middagar eller bara som sällskap när du känner dig ensam och behöver en tyst kompis vid din sida. Jag är okänslig för svordomar, schlagermusik och dåligt humör. Om du vill, kan du klä upp mig i finkläder, men ärligt talat trivs jag bäst naken. Vem gör inte det, egentligen? Det sägs att min bak är bland det fastaste som finns och även om jag saknar väsentlig anatomiska delar på framsidan, finns det ändå inget som hindrar att vi känner intimitet med varandra. Jag är lätt att tvätta och torka av. Och bäst av allt, om du tröttnar på mig, blir jag inte besviken eller deppig om du vill ställa ner mig i källaren eller i en garderob en tid. Vi ses när vi ses, tänker jag alltid. Jag blir din för 2500:-. Nyputsad och blank.
I’m now six months into one of my career’s monumental book projects. So far, it’s been nothing short of an epic experience with pretty much equal measures of psychology, creativity and technology involved. Which, to a degree, has made it a balancing act. An equilibrium of rigorous scheduling, mental prepping and an unavoidable dash of planned improvisation. And though mostly well-planned, the process still feels organic. A healthy dose of, let’s see what happens, mentality.
I’ve met some extraordinary people and seen them do amazing things with their talents. I’ve listened to many a compelling story of passion, of love and of enchantment – on and off the stage. Having been born in Hollywood during the 1970s and worked on a few shows in the 1980s, eons before Reality-tv, youTube and the like, I’ve felt right at home from day one. Hm. In retrospect, I think the concept enticed me subconsciously thanks to the subject matter’s inherent seductiveness and its connection, albeit somewhat distant, with my childhood.
Now, lets get nerdy.
The vast majority of my portraits and probably 90% of all other interior and exterior shots were taken with the above lens (taken with an iPhone 7+). A formidable field of view coupled with light sensitivity that provides an astonishing amount of usefulness and tack sharp images from f1.4 all the way down to f22.
When used together with my full frame Canon EOS 5DS, the planned shots are phenomenal and the slightly improvised exposures are often still really, really good. It’s been a love affair between the two with no boundaries and only one solid commitment; to always be compatible and work hard not to disappoint.
I soon realized that my old 50mm/f1.4 is far too slow and certainly unreliable when the pressure was on. The 24-70mm/2.8 worked great outdoors, but sucked badly without strobes and even then, nowhere near as sharp as the 35mm/1.4. The exterior night shot I’m most happy with, was taken with the hefty, “Mr Holmes”, a thick, 100-400 mm (Mark II) f4.5 behemoth that when carried for too long, makes you want to amputate your arm.
The field of view offered by the 35mm is considered that which likens human vision the most. For years, I’ve disrespected 35mm as being a choice of mediocrity. Not wide enough for landscapes, but too wide for portraits. That is, until I tried one in a camera store in Asia over the Christmas holidays. The bokeh alone sold me and then when I saw how well it performed during low light conditions, I was addicted, hooked, bewitched. Now, in typical evangelistic manner, I can’t recommend the thirty-five enough. Fact is, I’m seriously considering getting rid of every other glas I own. Except Mr Holmes, that is.
Klockan 05:58 varje måndag, onsdag och fredag står jag utanför Kockum Fritids entré och väntar på att bli insläppt. Några sömndruckna steg senare stapplar jag in gymet, drar mitt kort och börjar ett timlång pass med en intensiv intervallöpning på bandet. Jag brukar hinna med cirka 10 olika maskiner och lika många moment med fria vikter på mattan.
Första halvtimme är lite seg, men sen brukar det lossna ordentligt. Mot slutet av passet lackar svetten och pulsen är hög. När jag lämnar gymet är det som om en fläkt blåst bort all trötthet och gett plats till nya kreativa idéer, problemlösningar och en nästan lite jobbig entusiasm över dagens agenda. Och då har klockan precis slagit sju.
Skall villigt erkänna att det känns lättare att knata upp klockan 05:15 nu när det är ljust ute. Som i morse. Blåsigt värre, men ljust och klart. Ungefär som bilden ovan.
I tisdags eftermiddag filmade jag till en ny videoinstallation som skall rulla några månader på en av väggarna intill nyinvigde Living Room Bar på Clarion Hotel Malmö Live. Filmen visar sekvenser i framförallt super slow motion från när olika varianter på gin och tonic blandas. Ganska häftiga att den gamle “GT” fått en sån renässans. Minns inte när jag inte hade en turkosblå flaska Bombay Sapphire stående i kökets vinfack.
Anyway…på 25e våningens populära restaurang, Kitchen & Table, projiceras sedan hotellets invigning min kollagefilm, “Malmhattan” (med blandade vyer från Manhattan och Malmö) på väggen precis när man kliver ur hissen.
Kommer att lägga ut den nya filmen snart, måste bara sätta lämplig musik till den…
Bilden ovan med hotellets barchef, Noel Ekstrand, är från tisdagens filminspelning.
DJ:ade igår – för andra gången på ett par månader – på Green Matmarknads populära After Work. Mycket folk och god stämning. Och bra musik, förstås. Mest soul. Jag kallar konceptet för, “Soul Corner” med tydlig referens och hyllning till SR:s främste soul-ambassadör, Mats Nileskär.
Det är så klart lite udda att stå vid ena hörnet i en Bistro och servera musik under ett par timmar. När min dj-karriär var i full swing i början av 1990-talet, fylldes dansgolven på klubbarna i bl a Visby, Göteborg och Helsingborg av flera hundra dansare. Det enorma trycket och höga decibelnivå skulle nog kännas extremt påfrestande idag.
Men jag tycker fortfarande det är vansinnigt roligt att spela min favoritmusik för publik och precis som häromsistens, kom flera av Greens gäster fram och tackade för alla sköna låter de fått höra under AW:n.
Trots att dom flesta idag lyssnar till genrebaserade spellistor eller låtkavalkader genererade av algoritmer, märks det å det tydligaste att folk fortfarande uppskattar någon som omsorgsfullt väljer ut och blandar både bortglömda pärlor och klassiska örhängen. Än finns det hopp för oss gamla musiknördar.
Vad är det vi egentligen firar med Internationella Kvinnodagen? Och gäller firandet bara idag? Så i morgon är det ok att plocka fram förtrycket igen, alltså?
Don’t get me wrong, people. Klart att kvinnor skall hyllas, beundras och respekteras. Men inte bara idag. Varje dag. Och inte bara för att kvinnor är kvinnor, heller.
Det är snarare deras beundransvärda motståndskraft och förmåga/viljestyrka att leva vidare med oss män som skall firas.
För trots millennium av fysisk, psykisk, social och ekonomiskt diskriminering, förtryck och slaveri, ger kvinnor inte upp. Det mina vänner är en respektingivande överlevnadskvalité som verkligen är värd att hyllas.
Men inte bara under en endaste dag.
Trots att vi som art anser oss mer utvecklade än någonsin tidigare, råder fortfarande mer kvinnoförtryck än jämlikhet mellan könen. Särskilt i länder där religionen och andra sagor dikterar den sociala dagordningen.
Kvinnor lever onekligen i ett slags apartheid. Och beroende på var i världen och i vilken kultur du som kvinna befinner dig, styrs ditt liv mer eller mindre helt av män och männens förtryckande regelverk – inte minst när kvinnoförtrycket maskeras under banderollen av religionsfrihet. Det värsta förtrycket och dom sämsta förutsättningar för jämlikhet hänger intimt ihop med ekonomi.
Enligt senaste FN-rapporten om läget och utsikterna, har en kvinna från Sierra Leone 100 gånger så stor risk att dö i barnsäng som en kvinna i Kanada.
Läs en summering av rapporten här.
Året är 2017 och även om många fler har det bättre än för säg, femtio år sedan, är det fortfarande många hundra miljoner kvinnor som lever ett liv i något slags förtryck. För många innebär det inget mindre än en tragedi.
Därför skall kvinnor hyllas alla dagar.
A series of clips (shot on iPhone 7+ and iPhone 6s) from the week’s glorious skiing with barely any wind but plenty of cold snow and warm sunshine. The above video is part of larger travelogue/reportage that we’ve been working on since arriving late last Sunday.
Just nu ligger jag i en mjuk träsäng – omgärdad av tjocka duntäcken av den där underbart fylliga sorten – i vad som lär vara ett av alpernas äldsta hotell – någonstans mitt i Zermatt.
Zermatt är inte bara ett av Schweiz mest exklusiva skidorter. Byn platsar nog också lätt på topp 5 i världen. Men jag vill mena att placeringen definieras långt utöver byns bilfria huvudgata där påkostade boutiquer med haute couture, trendiga skidkläder, glittrande smycken och eleganta klockor väntar.
För runt om pittoreska Zermatt sträcker sig nämligen ett av dom allra mäktigaste landskap jag någonsin haft förmånen att njuta av. Ett landskap som bokstavligen kröns av bergen Monte Rosa (4,634möh) och Matterhorn (4,479möh). Apropå Matterhorn, lär dess trekantiga topp ha inspirerat skaparen av chokladen Toblerone.
Jag har besökt runt ett dussin orter i alperna, men dom mäktiga vyerna som omgärdar Zermatt står i en klass för sig. Så fort tåget rullat in på byns lilla banhof, blev jag varse monumentalitetens proportioner och kontrasterna mellan å ena sidan människans korta, flyktiga liv och bergsmassivens tidlöshet.
Skidåkningen som erbjuds i och runt dalens olika system är inget mindre än fenomenal. Liftarna är supermoderna och effektiva. Fattas bara annat – det är ju trots allt Schweiz det handlar om. Pisterna är så klart extremt välmanikyrerade.
För dom av oss som föredrar opreparerat, finns hur mycket offpist som helst att välja på i och utanför dom skogklädda sluttningarna längst ner mot dalen.
En strålande solig och helt vindstilla dag som idag fick mig att reflektera tillbaka till tiden då jag jobbade i Lappland, på Hotel Riksgränsen. Särskilt när jag på ett av toppstationerna såg helikoptrarna starta och landa med förmodligen über-lyckliga heliski-åkare.
Matutbudet nere byn är magnifik – utan att för den sakens skull vara astronomiskt dyr. Bara i dalen finns över 100 krogar och ytterligare 50 ligger utspridda i bergen ovanför. Lägg därtill runt 60 barer, så förstår man att det råder en hel del konkurrens om besökarnas gunst och kreditkort.
Det här är mitt andra besök i Zermatt, och jag har hunnit testa både enklare restauranger och ett par med gastronomiska ambitioner – varav en italienare med Michelin-stjärna. Favoriten, i alla fall hittills efter två hellyckade besök, är japanska Myoko. Att lyckas laga till så god sushi och sashimi i en avlägsen bergsby i Schweiz, är sannerligen en bedrift. Huruvida dom flyger in fisken från Tsukiji Fish Market i Tokyo, vet jag inte.
Jag blir kvar i detta “alptöcken” ytterligare några dagar. Förhoppningsvis med lika fint väder som idag. Så att jag får ihop ett gäng bilder och filmklipp till resereportaget jag är här för att producera. På fredag kliver vi på det lilla eltåget med panoramafönster ner till Visp och så småningom ett större ekipage som för oss till Zürich. På lördag kommer jag att börja klippa reklamfilmen jag spelade in åt Skånetrafiken förra lördag och på söndag kommer Nina med en liten armada elektriska fordon som skall fotograferas i studion åt företaget Eloped.
I stumbled onto this somewhat obscure VDO with keyboardist extraordinaire Brian Auger and his daughter on vocals today while listening to Rhythm Planet on KCRW. The gig is at the minimal yet nonetheless legendary Baked Potato in North Hollywood. Which, incidentally, is where I saw Koinonio (Alex Acuna/Abe Laboriel etc) perform with special guest Al Jarreau sometime back in the foggy, mid 1990s.
Av en händelse hittade jag det här gamla bildspelet som jag producerade för organisationen bakom B0O1 City of Tomorrow. Uppdraget var att sätta ihop ett gäng stillbilder, inklusive illustrationer, 3D-renderingar och planskisser till en rullande presentation på DVD som skulle ingå i ett presskit för för besökande journalister och medierepresentanterna. Den levererades för cirka 17 år sedan.
Från tidigare ikväll. Hann knappt ur taxin från Kastrup förrän jag gav mig ut med en fulladdad iPhone 7+ för att testa om den nya kameran var så mycket bättre än den numera pensionerade iPhone 6s. Kan inte påstå att jag såg så stor skillnad, faktiskt. Båda är ungefär lika bra och har mer eller mindre samma förtjänster och begränsningar. Det så klart en fördel att skärmen på den nya modellen är större. Men sensorn och kameralinserna verkar tämligen oförändrade. Med det sagt är jag ändå löjligt imponerad av hur bra det ser ut. Nästa lördag regisserar jag en ny reklamfilm för Skånetrafiken. Kommer sannolikt att ha glädje av iPhone 7+ under inspelningen.
The new year’s first European trip went to Spain, if only for a short weekend visit. It’s considerably warmer here methodologically (as well as socially), but there hasn’t been much sun yet, which is okay, too. We have an agenda that is in no way, shape or form dependent on the weather. That said, it’s still a real treat to walk along Barceloneta without wearing more than spring apparel.
A tapas lunch at Restaurante El 58 along Rambla del Poblenou is definitely recommendable. I really enjoy tapas once and awhile and this place had an interesting a la carte from which we ate about a dozen sumptuous dishes. The marinated tuna on a crispy salad and the deep fried mushrooms were two of my favorites.
It’s surprisingly crowded with domestic and foreign tourists just about everywhere we’ve been today. Loads of Americans, too. One taxi driver told us that Barcelona is now one of the 10 most popular tourist cities to visit in the world. No wonder it’s so busy in February.
Jag flugit ovanför Västra Hamnen och Malmö ganska många gånger vid det här laget. Att fotografera från en trång cockpit i ett litet sportplan som skakar, svajar och kränger tusen meter ovanför marken, är en av dom allra största utmaningar jag utsatt mig för som fotograf. Särskilt när piloten lite utan förvarning girar åt ett för mig helt oväntat håll.
Vid start på Sturup ligger två systemkameror mellan mina lätt darrande ben. Den ena har ett rejält zoomobjektiv påskruvat och det andra en med lite bredare brännvidd. Jag varvar mellan båda beroende på höjd och avståndet till det jag vill dokumentera.
Några turer har gått till Kullen och trakterna kring Ängelholm och på hemvägen händer det att färdriktningen bjuder på vyer som den ovan där två av Malmös kanske viktigaste landmärken och symboler hamnar i både förgrunden och bakgrunden. Det är en magisk vy som skall helst ses i realtid strax nedanför molnen.
Me? Well, I’m slowly working my way through Season 3 of the West Wing. Such outstanding writing, acting and cinematography. Hands down, Sorkin’s best show to date. And so soothingly therapeutic right now.
Someone asked me recently if I’m into the House of Cards show. Not that Kevin Spacey isn’t amazing – heck, I’ve been a fan of his work since around Se7en. And I just recently re-watched American Beauty where Kev costarred with the equally talented Annette Bening. But right now I just can’t absorb both a political TV drama AND a real-time, real-life King Lear. Sorry, Shakespeare.
Så fort du slutar utmana dig själv – fysiskt och mentalt – tar jag ett steg närmare ättestupan. Så känner jag. Dagens yoga-pass och workshop på Kockum Fritid – som leddes av trevliga och pedagogiskt begåvade Magnus Ringberg – var ett klockrent exempel på en fysisk utmaning med psykologiska implikationer.
Dels fick jag det positiva kvittot på att kroppen (efter lite uppvärmning) fortfarande är elastisk och hyfsat samarbetsvillig. Dels blev jag varse om att flexibilitet verkligen är färskvara – särskilt vid min ålder. Behöver nog öka antal yoga-pass i veckan för att förlänga träningsformens långsiktiga fördelar och framförallt för att kunna bli bättre rent tekniskt och därmed få ut mer fysiskt.
Summa summarum klarade jag åtminstone 80% av dagens mer eller mindre fakir-mässiga rörelser. Den relativt höga procentsatsen fick mig på gott humör resten av söndagen – men kommer sannolikt att kännas av mer fysiskt under morgondagen.
Sugen på att testa på yoga? Kan varmt rekommendera dom duktiga tränarna på Kockum Fritid här i Västra Hamnen.
Bilden ovan är från en Qigong-workshop för några år sedan på Kockum Fritid. liksom dagens event, var det också samproducerat med Health and Training Academy. Illustrationen är från en serie yoga-bilder jag tog i höstas på fotomodellen, Tora Rosenkjaer.
My cigar series is slowly coming together. It started more or less by a fluke a few years ago while I was working in my old studio with artist and friend, Johan Carlsten. I just recently added two more to the collection – one of which is of Czech model, Ivana Cermakova, pictured above. However artistic, images of folks puffing away on a cigar isn’t exactly promoting a healthy lifestyle. They do, however, somehow promote life-in-style.
Haven’t smoked a Cohiba (or, any other brand for that matter) in quite a few years. But every time I look at this shot and my other cigar smokers, I get an urge to fire one up and puff away.
I got in touch with Ivana through Model Mayhem, possibly the world’s largest online network of models, make-up artist, photographers and stylists. I’ve only been a member for a short while, but through an old assistant’s account, I’ve actually used MM for a few years. Primarily in L.A. But since joining, I’ve had some really good commercial and artistic shoots thanks to the models I’ve recruited through the network. It’s a bit tricky to vet the level of professionalism just by looking through profile pix and info. But so far, so good.
Model Mayhem has unfortunately very little presence here in Malmö, but there are plenty of professional models that tour European studios on a regular basis – with some even traveling as far north as in Copenhagen.
Well, it’s about time to leave Bangkok and the always intriguingly interesting albeit grueling humid and intense South East Asia. It’s mostly been seasonally cool, though. At least while the sun’s hiding behind thick grey clouds. The shot above is from earlier tonight from on top of the Thong Lor Skytrain Station (BTS) where late afternoon/early evening traffic started to pick up in both directions along Sukhumvit Road. I’m not a huge fan of this part of Bangkok, but if you have to stay on or near Sukhumvit, trendy Thong Lor is a good option as it offers a somewhat local vibe to the area’s otherwise extremely urban state of mind. And best of all, there’s not many (if any) nagging tailors here.
After spending several weeks in Thailand – where smiles are plentiful and most generously offered, even to the strangest strangers – it’s certainly going to take some serious acclimatization before we readjust/realign/reboot our lives to Scandinavia’s cold and dark meteorological and social climate.
Tonight, we ate the trip’s last meal in Asia at a popular Japanese eatery around the corner and filled our table with udon noodle soup topped with tempura, a tray full of tuna, salmon and yellow tail nigiri, some California maki rolls, a tray packed with salty Edamame beans, several bowls of garlic rice and finally, a small grilled teriyaki salmon. All sumptuously delicious and beautifully presented by the chef and our kind waitress.
I’m going to miss being able to spoil myself with so much great food. I always do. The level of choice here is remarkable. I am sure I could without any problem eat at a new restaurant in Bangkok every night for the rest of my natural life without having to repeat a single visit – or go bankrupt.
Though I’m not looking forward to enduing a minimum of three winter months, I concede that I’m rested, inspired and ready to dig in to both ongoing projects and forthcoming assignments. And I can’t wait to go through about a terabyte of film and stills from both Thailand and the Maldives.
Next stop: Malmö
Förstår faktiskt inte varför inte myndigheterna i stadshuset tillåter lite gatuförsäljning, trubadurer eller torghandel – och gör det dessutom supersvårt för andra säsongsbetonade aktiviteter längs våra promenadstråk och mötesplatserna i Västra Hamnen – förutom när det är ett gigantiskt event..
Nu menar jag så klart inte att det hysteriska gatulivet här i Bangkok är någon slags förebild. Men, det behöver ju inte alltid krävas stor tävling för att det skall skapas lite välbehövlig kontinental stämning i vårt område sommartid.
Och nu när jag ändå är igång: varför inte en rejäl bondens marknad under vårens och höstens helger på Scaniaplatsen eller någon annanstans där det är lä. Det hade verkligen varit finfint och säkert bara gynnat Västra Hamnens livsmedelsbutiker och kaféer.
This is the beautiful Ao Nang Mosque – which is literally next door to our hotel. And though the morning call to prayer has stirred us a few times, it’s not really a bad thing to wake up fairly early each morning to the tune of a beautiful song. We’ve been debating for a few days whether or not the singing is live or prerecorded. I also wonder if a female would be allowed to perform the call to prayer.
A few hundred clicks south of here, the decade long conflict continues between the entrenched separatist movement of Thai Muslims and the Thai government led army. But here in Krabi Province, everyday life between Muslims and Buddhists is peaceful and congenial. The vast majority of locals here belong to the Islamic faith, though worshiping traditions appear less formal and more pragmatic as it does with their Buddhist copatriots. Not all, but very many women bear… Read more →
I realize I’ve posted this image before, but today seems like a good day to reuse it in order to pay tribute to Carrie Fisher aka Princess Leia and remember the theatrical premier of, Star Wars: A New Hope at the Mann’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles. I was there, somewhere in that crowd, getting ready to see a story from, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away”.
Today is the day after (at least here in Asia) I heard about the sad, sad news that one of the principle cast members of one of my favorite Sci-Fi films has passed away, Carrie Fisher, aka Princess Leia.
Carrie Fisher was witty, often humanistically self-loathing and seemed to try hard at maintaining a reasonable distance to the persona she portrayed on the silver screen. Unfortunately, the actress wasn’t able to handle the flip side of being born into… Read more →
It’s been about ten years since I last set foot on Railay Beach near Ao Nang in the southern Thai province of Krabi. Aside from the seemingly tectonic shift in demographics (more younger Yanks, Russians and Chinese, considerably less Scandinavian families) and probably twice as many speedboats and long-tails, it’s still breathtaking to step onto that beach and once again experience first hand the emerald, semi translucent sea and surrounding limestone islands with their dramatically steep cliffs.
Today, while Charlotte covered Railay East, I spent about an hour shooting on the peninsula’s west side. It was pretty packed with a whole bunch of more or less fit sun lovers, so it took some time to figure out angles that wouldn’t demand too much retouching.
Ao Nang has really grown since our last visit. And that means it’s much, much busier than we remember it to be. Then again, we’re here during peak season and memories can be tricky – I mean, it’s easy to forget how things really were and just remember all the good stuff.
The general vibe in Ao Nang village is still fairly laid back and relaxed. We’re staying about a 15 minute walk from the beach and close enough to the beautiful Ao Nang Mosque for us to be … Read more →
Just read that singer, composer and pop star George Michael passed away. I was never a huge fan of his early work with WHAM! but there were at least a couple of his albums at the top 30 of my towering CD stack during the eighties and nineties. My brother Tyko and I once had a wild weekend in London back when “Faith” was a hit and the preferred nightclub was a wholeheartedly decadent church called, the Limelight.
I don’t believe in curses or other forms of superstition and I suppose I’m experiencing a little extra sadness and sense of mortality from hearing about George Michael’s death because I’m the same age as he was. However, 2016 has been a year when unusually many inspiring and exceptionally gifted people have left us. Several of which have somehow meant something to me, including… Read more →
End of the year and time to take inventory. While biting into a thick, bean burrito the other night, way after I’d passed the, “I am so full now it hurts” stage, I had one of those rare moments of clutter-free clarity about how often I find myself stuck in situations like this; stuffed beyond belief.
During the course of our stay here in Asia, I’ve been more or less subconsciously trying to address this bad habit. Mostly, I’ve stuck to a strict vegetarian/pescatarian based diet and avoided processed foods, including the usual suspects; breads, pastries, pastas, sauces, dressings and dips.
For about two weeks, I was really focused and kept stringently to my new, narrow dietary path without much trouble or frustration. Then we started visiting the Mexican cantina, La Monita Taqueria, located in a typical soi off Sukhumvit near Wireless Road. We’d barely walked through the front door before I immediately realized that all bets were off. The pungent smell of… Read more →
Back in Bangkok again. This time until Christmas Day. Also back near the capital’s “lungs”, the lush oasis that is Lumpini Park, which after either side of the Chao Phraya River, is arguably the best location this mega city has to offer its visitors and residence.
I’ve been lucky/fortunate/worked hard to have visited many beautiful islands with gorgeous scenery and pristine, sun-drenched, powder sand beaches lined with picture-perfect, swaying palm trees. It’s often a surreal experience – especially when you’re there during Europe’s cold, color-less winter months.
This relatively short visit to the Maldives will henceforth be on top of that list of surreally beautiful places that exceeded my expectations.
Leaving soon and heading back to Bangkok for a couple of weeks.
Still basking in the sun here in the Maldives…but right now, at the very top of the Turning Torso – where Sky High Meetings reside – is where certainly one of the year’s most interesting conferences is well underway. The meeting’s topics include distribution logistics, a review of delivery schedules and perhaps most importantly, the children’s Christmas lists.
After yesterday’s four hour flight from Bangkok, we’re now in the Maldives. Yup, it’s as beautiful here as the brochures portrayed. We’re on one of the island nation’s smaller atolls that’s about 300 x 800 meter in width and length. No road, just sand and a few golf carts.
As could be expected, the vast majority of guests are newlyweds on their honeymoon. Most are from China but we’ve seen/heard a few Russians, too. So far, not a single American or anyone single, for that matter.
Weather is similar to that of Hawaii; tropical yet comfortably warm with a constant breeze flowing through the island’s mangrove bushes and swaying palm trees.
Most of yesterday was dedicated to shooting and filming on Sunset and Sunrise beaches. So, even if it rains the rest of our days here, I feel I already have enough stills and footage for the stories and travel video I’m here to produce. Which means today, I can relax and work a little on my Christmas tan.
Early this morning, I ventured about an hour out from the center of Bangkok to a seemingly obscure plot of undeveloped land that has long served as a makeshift graveyard for several commercial planes. Star and visual draw here is, of course, the gigantic and instantly recognizable, Boeing 747, “Jumbo Jet”.
All of the derelict planes inner workings had been gutted for what I can only assume was the value from the network of copper wiring which is hidden behind the walls of the fuselage. Ironically, the first class cabin (top floor) was more or less empty and the only remaining seat in the entire aircraft was the cockpit’s barren jump seat.
I didn’t have time to investigate for any clues as to which airline the plane had been in service for. But given its location, I’m not overreaching with a guess that it was probably Thai International Airways.
While walking around inside and around the grounded metal carcass, I wondered if I at some point in my life, on some trip to or from Asia, had been one of the plane’s passengers.
Speaking of Fidel “El Comandante” Castro and his aficionado for Cohibas, when professional model Ivana Cermakova was in the studio the other week, I just couldn’t resist creating a new version of my popular cigar image portraying Johan “Giovanni” Carlsten.
While the original was shot against a matte, black background in my old studio with a real, albeit unlit, Cohiba, Ivana C was captured against the new studio’s clean white wall puffing on some no-name cigar of dubious origin that I’d bought minutes earlier in our local no-name kiosk. In both cases, smoke was added in post production. Otherwise, the smoke just gets in your eyes, as Leif “Smoke Rings” Andersson would of said…
We’re back in the always inspiring South East Asia again. Here to work for about a month on assignments that will include a few regional trips. At 9:00 a.m., we checked into a relatively new boutique property in Bangkok on Wireless Road with a sleek decor which kind of reminded me of what they have at The Siam – a homage to all things retro. The hotel has a cozy lounge with an outdoor pool, a fairly large fitness room and rooftop bar both with amazing views (see above image – shot on my phone this afternoon)
There is no better time to arrive in the Thai capital than on a Sunday morning when traffic is light – especially along the otherwise tormentingly congested Sukhumvit Road.
The weather is perfect right now. December is the coolest time of year in this part of the world, but that’s not to say it isn’t hot in the shade or scorching hot in the sun once you leave the city’s air-con comfort zones. But even if tomorrow’s forecast is dialed in to be 31C/88F, the season’s relatively low humidity makes outdoor activities so much more enjoyable. When we were living here in Bangkok for a few months a couple of years ago, I remember morning runs in Benjasiri Park when temperatures were hovering as low as around 15C/60F.
Both Charlotte and I feel so at home here in Thailand. For more than 2 decades this country, with its friendly people, great food and beautiful nature, has been one of our top 3 favorite destinations worldwide.
Even if it is a little disorienting with all the shiny new skyscrapers and sprawling shopping complexes that emerge from visit to visit, Bangkok is still as amazing today as it was when I was here as a backpacker for the very first time in 1988.
Whatever part of town we stay in, it still no hassle finding an authentic Thai restaurant, a decent foot massage place or a barbershop. Which is more or less all of what we managed to accomplish on this very first jet-lagged day in Asia.
This is going to get a little nerdy … I recently retired an almost 7 year old digital companion, a Macbook Pro 17″, pictured above. It wasn’t broken and there wasn’t really anything disastrously wrong with it. Still, it deserved to be replaced with a new, albeit smaller Macbook Pro 15” with a Retina display.
Unfortunately, Apple discontinued the 17 inch model shortly after mine had left the Chinese factory back in 2010. The 15 inch is now the largest laptop they make. Thanks to a vastly improved display resolution on the new MBPs, Apple’s marketing schtick insists you can now fit much more stuff on their new 15 than you ever could on an old 17.
Mostly, I miss the huge wide screen – particularly when watching a film or editing an image or compositing a video. While the new screen’s colors are vibrant and bright, it’s also extremely reflective. The old screen, on the other hand, was matte – some would argue it was dull and couldn’t display colors representatively. I don’t know.
I didn’t replace my old laptop for a new one based on the screen, though. It was the processor’s inability to cope – at a reasonable pace – with the new and larger RAW file sizes I threw at it after I started shooting with Canon’s EOS 5Ds. And though Final Cut Pro X worked reasonably well – at least when chewing low resolution footage, cutting anything filmed in 4k was completely out of the question.
I took my old wide-screen Macbook Pro 17”, aptly nicknamed, “The Lunch Tray”, on innumerable assignments to Asia, America, Africa and throughout Europe. It was a heavy piece of gear, for sure. And my chronically aching shoulders are a testament of how much I lugged it around in a poorly padded pack back over the course of many years. But these last two or three, I pretty much just stuffed it into my checked in luggage and hoped it would survive the inevitably rough and tough handling as it passed through the innards of airports and airplanes.
Apple recently launched a new series of Macbook Pro models. Some of which have a so-called, Touch Bar – a thin, wide display where the keyboard’s top row keys used to go.
I initially ordered one. But after reading several less-than-positive reviews, I got cold feet and cancelled my online purchase. Not just because I think the Touch Bar is a neat but probably useless gimmick.
Apple’s chief industrial designer, Sir Jony Ive and his team have certainly created a new shiny, symmetrical, aerodynamic laptop that is both beautiful and resourceful. As far as I can tell, there’s plenty of power under the hood, too.
No, it’s the lack of ports on the new Macbook Pro that got me worried. The new machine only has four USB-C ports, which means that in order for me to connect my current gear to it, I’ll also have to buy a bag of dongles. Which is definitely something I hate being forced to do. Dongles not only get in the way when you’re working on the go, I also tend to forget them at home, at the gallery, in the studio or just plain lose them whilst travelling.
So, after canceling my order, I started checking out if Apple still sold one of their older models – thinking that perhaps I could instead buy last year’s Macbook Pro 15” with all it’s glorious ports, the handy slot with an SD card reader and a Magsafe, Apples ingenious magnetic power cord.
Turns out that several other professionals had the same exact thought as I. And so when I got to our local Apple Store here in Malmö, there were indeed only a few of the year old models left in stock. Unceremoniously and without any buyer’s remorse or hesitation whatsoever, I whipped out my credit card and bought one on the spot.
In just a few hours, I’ll be taking my new digital companion on its maiden journey to the Far East where it will hopefully do as good a job as its stoic predecessor did for more than half a decade.
Just passed November. What a month! As per usual this time of year, I’ve got a ton of stuff going on. The month began with a short culturally focused trip to London with my daughter Elle after which I kicked off a huge book project for a new client, Malmö Opera.
The Christmas themed video commercial and campaign stills I produced for yet another new client, Nobina/Skånetrafiken, was launched and is now achieving a ton of attention. I also managed to fit in a couple of interesting location shoots during November for Finja Prefab – yet another new client – as part of a long-term assignment to replenish their image bank.
Tora Rosenkjaer
In the studio, I’ve had an assortment of smaller, personal projects that are now in various stages of completion – including a whole new series of silhouettes and yoga themed visuals – including a series from when the extremely talented and almost unbelievably flexible model Tora Rosenkjaer visited the studio a few weeks back.
Luckily, and certainly subconsciously, I’ve been slowly progressing towards some kind of equilibrium or symmetry between my seemingly insatiable apatite for creative challenges and inability to rein myself in from working precariously close to a physical and mental fizzle.
As the year is coming to an end, I happy that my training regimen has been fairly consistent. I’ve become more and more dependent/addicted to fueling my often times excessive workload with regular infusions of endorphins, an increase of sleep and healthier grub.
Soon in my second year, I’m still sticking to the pescatarian/vegetarian diet the family and I embarked on a while back. Though I once in a while miss sinking my teeth into a juicy Hungarian sausage, a charred beef and wolfing down a Nathan’s mustard and relish covered hot dog, it’s not even close to as hard as I initially thought it would be.
Just read that Fidel Castro has passed away at 90. That’s a long life for a revolutionary and a respectable age for what some arguably consider him to be – a visionary. Though I never had an opportunity to see the man live, a few years ago, I was officially invited to Havana, Cuba by the government as part of a large press troop from all over the world. I’ve actually been there twice, but it was during my very first visit that I was introduced to the woman above, whom according my official guide, was solely responsible for rolling Fidel Castro’s favorite cigar brand, the Cohiba Esplendido.
It was in one of the large factories in the midst of Havana where they produce the Cohiba Esplendido, that I met the woman whom gladly had her picture taken with me. Unfortunately, I don’t speak Spanish, but I do remember her telling me, through my interperter/guide, that Fidel Castro no longer smoked cigars, but still enjoyed holding and smelling one of her hand-rolled Cohibas.
Interestingly, a few months ago, when I was shooting in Budapest, the taxi driver that drove me back to the airport turned out to be married to a Cuban woman. After telling him my story about meeting Fidel’s cigar roller in Havana, he produced a small plastic bag from his glove compartment and from it handed me a Cohiba Esplendido. His wife had brought him a box of the famous cigars from a recent visit to Cuba and now he was sharing one of them with me. It’s tucked safely away in my fridge and maybe later tonight I’ll pour myself a stiff glass of rum and light that sucker up. As a sort of tribute to Castro’s longevity and persistence. Certainly not his politics.