Another festival for me
My last blogpost was related to the Malmö Festival, which is put on by the City of Malmö for a whole week with lots of food trucks, many performances and other culture events, including big artists playing in front of tens of thousands of spectators. This blogpost is about another festival in Malmö. Same city, but VERY different! The NGBG festival is put on by volunteers and the participating artists and culture workers, many of them independent artists, and it’s held along a rather worn down street called Norra Grängesbergsgatan, filled with car washes, workshops and second hand stores. Over a weekend in early September there were at least 400 different events at well over 20 stages, housed inside the workshops and stores where normally cars are serviced, as well as on temporary stages along the street that was blocked of with a huge cargo container at each end of the street.
Pride in the rain
At the start of July it was once again time for the Pride parade to make its way through the city of Malmö, and I was there to document the event. I definitely enjoy photographing at Pride, and to be there to show my support for the cause. To me it’s utterly incomprehensible the way we are still, in the year 2025, having people who are so incredibly intolerant and stuck in their old ways and can’t accept that other people have other lives to lead, lives that won’t affect their own in any way whatsoever!
Season Closer by the Sea
One of the nicer traditions in my photo club here in southernmost Sweden is that we close out the spring season with a gathering outdoors where we cook hot dogs and have a beer or two (non-alcoholic options available too of course). We are usually out by the ocean since it’s right there for us, and this year’s gathering was no exception.We were blessed with pretty nice weather and the hot dogs were great, as was the company! One of the possible themes for the evening’s photography was “structures and surfaces” so some of the photos in this post were inspired by this theme.
Nerd Parade Time!
One of the nice traditions I’ve enjoyed in the last decade or so (minus Covid years of course) has been to take photos at the local Nerd Parade, put on by the Sci-Fi Bookstore in Malmö, Sweden, to celebrate the inner nerd that resides in all of us. This usually manifests in cosplay from various sci fi/fantasy properties, many of which I do not have a clue about. Many of them are from various anime and manga universes, which I have yet to explore. That’s perfectly okay with me, I just enjoy seeing how multiple generations get to enjoy shared interests and not be mocked or ridiculed for an interest in a certain character, genre or story.
Park Life
There’s been a bit of an unintentional hiatus due to medical issues in my immediate family (most of which are thankfully on the mend now). I’ve not done a whole lot of photography lately; somehow the snapping of pictures isn’t all that important when such things happen…however, saying that I have done at least a few snapshots that I want to share in this post.
The light is back!
On March 2 I took my Fujifilm XT-3 and a 35 mm lens with me to the monthly photographers’ get-together in Malmö, Sweden where we fill our bellies with various delicacies on offer at the Coffee Square restaurant (I strongly recommend it to anyone in the vicinity!) and then we do a little stroll together for an hour…and sometimes a bit longer. It’s a very nice way to see old friends and geek out about photography and whatever else we can come up with to talk about. And eat some good food…which I’ve already mentioned I suppose…moving on!
Night Streets
I wrote in the last blog post that I didn’t really have any plans for what I am going to do with my 2025 photographic or creative year and that still stands. No clue yet…however I also wrote that I’d try to get out there more to take more pictures, even if it is still pretty meh around here as far as light and weather goes. It IS getting better though, the days are getting longer and you don’t risk freezing body parts off when out and about (provided you wear sensible clothing of course!).
Christmas Market Time
The three months ending the old year and beginning the new (November to January) are usually the slowest photography months for me, usually because the light is pretty much non-existent bar a few days when we have clear skies and (maybe) some snow covering the ground. Those days are good for photography, but otherwise…perhaps not so much. I usually put my camera away for much of this period since I find the lack of light so uninspiring. However, to combat these photographic doldrums and feelings of “why bother” I ventured into the center of Malmö to see if the ongoing Christmas market stalls and people there would inspire me.
Festival Days are here again!
For the last almost 40 years (minus the Covid years) there’s been a city festival in Malmö, Sweden during the first half of August, and this year was not an exception. For a week (Friday to Friday) the city is full of concerts, food trucks, cultural events and lots and lots of market stalls selling all kinds of (mostly unnecessary) things. So of course I had to take a bus into the center of the city to photograph at this event.
Here comes the Pride parade!
Taking a bus to the center of Malmö to photograph and show support for the annual Pride parade has become a part of the summer “ritual” for me in the last ten years or so (Covid years excluded of course) and it’s always fun! For a street photographer who often converts his photos to black and white it is also a welcome change in the photos into all colors of the rainbow (and then some!). As I always write though, it’s not just a celebration of everyone’s right to self-expression and love, it is also a protest and a show of strength and unity. I like seeing that!