Alone in the world

Stockholm is the most amazing city when it comes to photo exhibitions. Obviously the city in itself is amazing too – that goes without saying - but the amount of museums and galleries focusing on photography is much bigger than I am used to from Copenhagen. And as a cherry on top, some of them are free!

One good example of that is Kulturhuset, where you can right now see works by Gregory Crewdson. Creepiness and loneliness are pretty much the feelings you get when seeing these photographs. Make no mistake they are intriguing - yet you feel like you’ve entered a scary movie.

This one (above) really stayed with me for a long time after. The woman on a bed looking at a small naked baby. I wonder if the child is dead or alive... why is the door open and what is it about the woman that is so disturbing?
This series of photos is called 'Beneath the roses' and really looks like movie stills. You feel the tension in these shots.


Feel the light

Another thing that is striking about these photographs is the lighting and way it captures the weather. You can almost smell the cold of the snow or feel the damp rain and through that the loneliness of these landscapes and people also creeps out.
These everyday-like environments from small-town America also remind me of motives in Edward Hopper the American painter from the 1930s-40s. The feeling of emptiness and loneliness are also created through light in Hopper's paintings. For example this one 'Summer Evening' from 1947.
But the feeling of something lurking beneath this extremely well polished surface is strong in Crewdson's photos and I guess what get's under you skin.

 

Royal Vintage the Amory

Stockholm’s Royal Armoury takes us on a fashion journey, showing how Royal vintage is part of a recycling present where quality fabrics and design can last through generations.

When I saw that the Royal Amory here at the Royal palace in Stockholm was hosting an exhibition called Royal Vintage showing vintage dresses worn by members of the Swedish royal family I had to go see what the fuss was about. Lately the term 'vintage' has been used to cover everything that he reused - not considering the quality or the age of a garment. But in this exhibition there is a clear idea about what 'vintage' refers to: exceptional and highly quality clothes from the 1900s to 1960s. 

The exhbibtion does not focus on style or fashion, but more on colours and materials.It featured dresses mostly worn by Swedish Princess Sibylla.

My knowledge about Swedish Royalty limits itself to the actual king and Queen and their three beautiful children. Princess Sibylla is the late mother of the current King Carl Gustaf. The exhibition has matched dresses in colours, so each room is devoted to one colour. Showing us first shades of white and cream and moving on the blues, reds, greens and black. We see how the dresses are made and what materials are used. Withou attention to 'the style of royalty' or pictures of any of the princesses, the exhibition instead show us that quality in texture and shape is what really lasts for generations.

The exhibition is on untill January 2012 at the Royal Amory in Stockholm