Telescoping a city

Since moving to Sweden (and especially to Stockholm) I've had my camera with me nearly every time I've walked out the front door. I'm constantly attempting to capture in still frame the vibe of this city. It's not easy. Stockholm is beautiful and misplaced and disjunct and well-planned all at once. Islands sit close enough to one another where usually only a short bridge is needed for connection. It's a city of hops and skips. The city proper is concise without the slightest thought of the grid system while the suburbs fold out of the population, losing more charm with every traveled mile. On a map the main islands of Stockholm look big enough to be ranked up there with other major cities. But by bike you can cut across bodies of water and find yourself on the other side of the city in 20 minutes.

Although not yet attempted by me, panoramic photography seems like it would make the most sense in capturing Stockholm as the bodies of water and related landscapes are far wider than my lens and closer to what I see. But people meet people and other people have cameras and have the same motive of still frame capturing their city in mind and ultimately end up doing a better job. As I was thinking panoramic as my next step, my new acquaintance Axel took an opposite approach and stuck his camera in front of a telescope. While most Stockholm photography is colored by yellow and red buildings and blue water, these photographs found another charm. When I look at these I think of days well before I moved to this city. I think of a cat burglar tiptoeing over rooftops in search of silverware and private safes to crack in up-scale apartments. I think of chimney sweeps sitting on their balconies having a cigarette and a glass of wine after a long day of work.






These photos were taken by a guy I recently met named Axel and are taken from his Flickr page. If you are a Flickr user please add him as a friend and if you enjoy these photos shoot him a message or leave him a comment letting him know.