WINTER WONDERLAND

Just shipped these two beauties off to VÅLER. E's mom asked me a while back if I could make some pillows for her local Christmas bazaar ...with Christmas motives ... and taken her location the choice naturally fell on some PICTURES that I took this February at ALBY, not far from VÅLER. Looking at these pictures I can't believe it's been under a year since I took them.. feels like forever. Anyway, I really enjoyed having the pillows in my living room for a couple of days before I sent them off ..so I hope their new owner will like them too:)

WHEN THIS IS YOUR OFFICE

A couple of weeks ago I spent two mornings in SOLHEIMSVIKEN shooting the area around DNB NOR's new facilities. I was there shooting pictures for SVEIN BOASSON AS, the company in charge of the outdoor area in between and around these new buildings. The air was CRIST and CLEAR, the shadows blue and the sun was warm ..in other words; a great day at the office. This picture doesn't really show anything of what I was there to photograph (which I will show you later), but I thought this view deserved a picture. The bridge you see in the picture is PUDDEFJORDSBROEN, a bridge I have crossed thousands of times by bus or car ..traveling from where I grew up to the city center. Spending these mornings in this area made me realize that it's not only the city that has changed, it is also the way I view things. It's quite amazing coming back and realizing that these last years of traveling and photographing has completely changed the way I see the world. Or maybe not completely. As a photographer I have always worked with my interest for ...and ability to spot, visual beauty ..BUT it's like these last few years have strengthened this part of me, this sense, so that I now literally see Bergen in a totally new way. I guess it works the same way with all our SENSES, they are strengthened as we stimulate them and use them more.

HOMEMADE SCONES, JAM AND CLOTTED CREAM

COFFEE AND CAKE AT ALISA'S

BERGEN AUTUMN

Since we moved back to BERGEN in September the weather has been UNREALISTICALLY good, at least WAY better than I had feared. In 2012 Bergen had 269 days of RAIN.. also meaning 96 days with no rain.. which is not a lot, so my expectations were accordingly. My experience from this JULY (it pretty much looked like THIS the whole time we were here) did not help either. Even though I am a fairly optimistic person I have to admit that I like to go into situations with LOW expectations, because I function a lot better when positively surprised than the other way around. Like this autumn in BERGEN, which in my eyes have been absolutely DELIGHTFUL. That does not mean that we have had no rain... it means that it has not been raining all the time, like on the day these pictures were taken, right around the corner from our apartment. As I have mentioned earlier; I really like my neighborhood. And I LOVE having all my clothes in one spot again, like this coat that used to be my mom's. She used to wear it with a pair of flared trousers ..made in the exact same fabric. The pants stopped fitting me when I was around 10 ..so I guess we will never really know if I would have been able to pull off that look.. (at least in a more serious context than the dress up sessions my sister and I would arrange in the basement of our house). But one thing is for sure; my mother did. I think I have to ask her the next time I see her if she has a picture of it, I have a vague memory of having seen one a long time ago.. or maybe I am just imagining it. If there is a picture ..I will try to persuade my mother into having her blog debut.

MY STREET

INDIAN SUMMER

HAVE A NICE WEEKEND

MY NEW NEIGHBORHOOD

These photographs were taken a couple a days ago, close to where I now live ..in BERGEN, more specifically; in SOLHEIMSVIKEN, close to DANMARKSPLASS. I can not begin to explain how HAPPY I am, not only with our new apartment, but also with the area where it's located. Moving back to BERGEN made me realize how I really only knew very small parts of the city. I suddenly feel that the only part of Bergen I ever really knew was BØNES (which is where I grew up, a suburban area situated about 10-15 minutes outside the city center) as well as the immediate city center, where I lived as a STUDENT. 

The last time I lived in Bergen, seven years ago, it would have been UNTHINKABLE to live where we live now. When some friends moved out here I remember thinking that their life was basically over and that they were LOSERS. I guess I got OLDER, but I also got used to living in much bigger cities, with longer distances to cover. I remember the feeling of not wanting to go to another bar because it was situated on the opposite side of the city center- so it would take something like 5-10 minutes to walk there. Maybe I was particularly LAZY, but I honestly remember this as a collective idea. Of course it has to do with the weather, all the RAIN, but mainly I think it just has to do with the distances you are used to. Anyway, it feels good to be back and now feel that everything is so CLOSE and easy to get to. It also feels good that so many things have changed in the CITY, and not only with me.

So, the area where these pictures were taken is an example of an area that has changed a lot since the last time I lived here. It used to be the home of a big shipping company, BERGEN MEKANISKE VERKSTED, that produced iron steam boats here between 1855 and 1991. Today they are changing the area by putting in office buildings, apartments ..even a cafe; KRANEN (more about this some other time). I guess what is so charming about the area right now is that you still have the some of the old elements, as well as all the new. Like this wooden pier with the fancy buildings in the background. To me it is just also really nice to live by the ocean again, something I really missed living in BERLIN.

SUNDAY MORNING

It's been a month since I arrived in BERGEN.. I arrived by train from OSLO. It felt kind of nice; it was by train I left BERGEN seven years ago when I moved to OSLO, so in this way it somehow felt like a circle being closed. 

I feel like a different person now than I did then, if I had not, I never think I would have moved here again. Looking back I remember that when I left I knew one thing for sure; I would not move back unless I had found love. At the time I left BERGEN I had been single for a year ..and I felt like every guy I met had already fooled around with, had sex with or been in love with someone I knew or at least knew of.. and my guy friends were hooking up with all the same girls. In short; I came to think of the Bergen dating scene as quite INCESTIOUS. I remember this one moment I had some months before I left; I ordered a BEER in one of my favorite BARS and as the bartender handed it to me I realized that even though he didn't know me and I didn't know him I knew at least four GIRLS he had hooked up with/ been together with over the last couple of years. In that moment I realized that I could never return to this city, unless I was NOT SINGLE. Even though I am not single anymore, a lot more things would have to fall in place before I felt ready to come HOME. I still don't know if I am completely ready, but I know it feels good to be back in Bergen. I can't wait to get to know the city again and find my new place in it. Not only as the child who grew up her, but as the grownup I have become. As we settle in more I will share with you more of my plans and thoughts around this whole move. 

This last month has been so hectic; finding an apartment, moving in, getting a job to pay the rent. Life has changed in so many ways in such a short time. It's exciting and scary. Even though I have not been that good at blogging lately my move will not mean the end. It is kind of like this; when my life doesn't have a form, my blog doesn't either.. but as I said; my life is definitively coming into place ..and I am guessing that the blog will follow.

AUTUMN HAS ARRIVED, BYMARKA, TRONDHEIM

This weekend we spent in TRONDHEIM ..and we had a very nice time. After visiting FRODE and INGER a couple of times I have come to think of Trondheim as a very beautiful city. I am also always very happy when I am there since I get to spend time with two of my favorite people ..and their very nice APARTMENT. On the Saturday we went for a walk in BYMARKA and it hit my for the first time this year that AUTUMN has arrived. As you also can tell from the pictures ..I almost always walk about 2-20 meters behind the others ..since I am always stopping to photograph things .. and then I run a little bit to catch up with then .. and then I fall behind again.