Västra Hamnen in Malmö, Sweden
I was back in Malmö the other day. Charlotte and I drove into Västra Hamnen to pick up a few things in our condo’s s storage room. I’ve been back to Malmö several times in the last six months, but strangely, I never experience any kind of elation – only the type of comfort one finds in familiarity.
The neighborhood continues to evolve and we both noticed a few new buildings. Nothing noteworthy, though. Gap-fillers, mostly.
For those of you new to this site, I documented the Västra Hamnen area thoroughly throughout most of the time we lived there (2002-2005/2007-20013/2014-2019). In the very beginning, starting way, way back in 2002, I was frantic, spending hours upon hours all year round photographing the views, buildings, and many magnificent sunsets (arguably too many). In addition to a website with hundreds of images (and a few choice videos) from around the area, my efforts also resulted in a 10 book series chronicling Västra Hamnen. I was also commissioned to produce an additional two books specifically about the Turning Torso, for the owner of the skyscraper, HSB.
In 2010, the folks running Malmö City ordered 5000 copies of that year’s Västra Hamnen book to give visitors at the Swedish pavilion during the Shanghai World Expo. The book’s cover and short texts were translated into Mandarin and it was then showcased together with a 5-meter wide image of a seaside view of Sundspromenaden that I had taken from a wobbly fishing trawler several months before the Expo.
The above image is from “Titanic”, a popular place along the shoreline in Västra Hamnen. The overhanging structures provide an excellent view of the Öresund Bridge. While the younger kids love to climb up on the railings and jump fearlessly into the sea below, today, though not visible in this image, hundreds of teens and tweens choose “Titanic” as a place to secure their “love locks” in the iron fencing that surrounds the platform.