A visit to Stockholm

Last weekend I visited my friend Luca in Stockholm. Luca and I met in Nottingham while we were both studying our last year. I was doing Photography and he although super creative and arty was studying Neuroscience. He is a very clever and eccentric. He comes from a small town in the tip of Italy, but travels a lot and collects friends from all over the place. He seems to know everyone!

Luca was working in Stockholm, at the university, researching creativity in people by doing a tapping test on them. I didn't quite understand it myself, but it certainly did seem fascinating. I wanted to take the advantage of having a friend in Stockholm and go see the city. So I flew out on a £24 flight and had a great weekend of cycling, buffets, jumping in the forest, and junk shops.

Strangers house

Recently I took my boyfriend to my childhood home. I was born in an old match factory deep in the Black Forest in a small town called Haslach. Our next door neighbour, an old lady with fluffy white hair, passed away in April this year. I will always remember her sitting in front of her house smoking and watching people go by. Last year she was getting frail (she was at this point 92!) I used to find her sitting in her living room fast asleep with the TV on full blast. She was a friendly but stern little old lady and my brother and I always made the effort to visit her when we were about.

Anyway when my boyfriend Dylan and I got to Haslach, she was no longer with us and her house was very much empty. I had never really been past her living room, kitchen and hallway, so it was exciting and a little strange when my father unlocked the house with the key he had been given by her son. My dad opened the doors of the rooms each more exciting and jaw dropping than the next. The house was gigantic, Dylan and I were getting giddy with excitement and trigger happy with our camera's. After we had been shown all the rooms and even been taken up to the dusty two story attic and it was time to leave and go out for dinner.

The next day after breakfast we asked my dad to let us into the house again so we could have a longer look and take some proper pictures with a tripod. The lighting was orange and moody. I took a self portrait first but then thought I'd like to involve Dylan somehow. He suggested we got naked and sat oposite each other at the table. Brilliant! I looked around for some props. I loved the cheap red felt rose which was already on the table and wanted some tea cups to pretend we were having a tea party. Luckily Dylan found a vintage china tea set in the sideboard. We quickly undressed, self consciously trying not to attract the attention of the gardener who was pottering around outside.I set the self-timer and ran to my seat oposite Dylan who was already in character... CLICK, and here is the photograph.


'Drinking tea in a strangers house'

Home Alone Series

My mother and step father went on a romantic holiday to Lisbon. The weather wasn't much to talk about, but as soon as they went to one of the most amazing tea houses they started a week of hunting, finding and enjoying the most delicious Portuguese custard tarts! I however at this time was in our newly built house, dog sitting and generally getting a little bored with no one talk to apart from the echo of my voice in the white walled empty space.

One day I decided to start a self portrait project, never revealing my face but just having fun making shapes and creating scenes using only the props that were around me.

It was a creative way for me to play a little game and get something out of it at the end. So I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did creating it.