We are very proud to announce that starting Tuesday next week
Lola Akinmade-Åkerström will be our new picture blogger. 
If you want a glimpse of some of Lolas beautiful pictures you can have a look here: http://www.lemurworks.com/lola/travel/sweden/2010/arctictrip/
Check out the site on Tuesday if you want to know more.
Welcome Lola!
//Cecilia
We’re looking for a photo blogger in Sweden who wants to share his/her everyday life with (us and the rest of) the world. We don’t expect you to be a professional photographer but you should enjoy taking pictures.
The selected blogger will blog for two months from the end of October — or, if successful, longer. The purpose of the photo blog is simply to show non-Swedes what everyday life in Sweden may look like.
Are you the one or do you know someone who would be perfect for the job? Leave a comment here or send an e-mail to cecilia.sundstrand@si.se or mikaela.gustavsson@si.se.
Have a nice weekend!
Cecilia and Mikaela
Swedish flag by Luc de Leeuw: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9619972@N08/2108865836/
Happy Friday!
//Cecilia
When I went south to my home town for midsummer celebration this year I was thinking about a post a colleague made a couple of days ago: Midsummer madness. I decided to try to bring back the perfect midsummer picture.
The conditions were perfect: happy people, dancing children, a beautiful maypole and sunny weather. We had a fantastic day. I took a lot of pictures. Late Sunday evening I came back to Stockholm and was excited to go through all my pictures…which showed a lonely maypole and no happy dancing people at all. Not what I had planned to show and share. Just a pretty bad picture with a touch of melancholic back light. Again.
Sometimes it´s very frustrating to love pictures but to be a lousy photographer.
/Cecilia
Photo: Fredrik Schlyter/Johnér/Image Bank Sweden
If you only know Swedish Midsummer from photos, you probably think of happy people in sunny weather — perhaps also children with flowers in their hair. Something very idyllic, basically. Reality is not always as idyllic, however; real-life Midsummer may bring a fair share of rain, drunkenness and drama.
When we picked photos for our new book Sweden — Up North, Down to Earth, we disagreed on how to illustrate Midsummer. Picture editor Cecilia had found a fantastic photo, fairly similar to the one above: a maypole against the setting Midsummer sun (but that one also had a few people in it). Another colleague thought the backlight made it look too melancholic, too far from the happy–flowery version of Midsummer, I suppose. Nothing wrong with the compromise photo chosen instead (below), but I don’t think it’s quite as dramatic–romantic as the other one.
A page from the book Sweden — Up North, Down to Earth with a photo by Berno Hjälmrud/Link Image.
I think the photo discussion was a natural consequence of the fact that Midsummer is a big deal for most Swedes. Expectations of Midsummer celebrations are often sky-high and disappointment is looming on the horizon. The perfect Midsummer should have the sunniest weather, the best friends and family, the prettiest maypole, the funniest games, the coldest schnapps…
I used to avoid disappointment by simply throwing brilliant parties myself, inviting my equally brilliant friends. Now, unfortunately, most friends live a little too far away, and with Friday June 25 (Midsummer Eve) quickly approaching, I’m actually suffering from some sort of Midsummer stress myself. I plan to cure it with lime and vodka-pickled herring and home-baked strawberry cake on the day, so not to worry. And I’m keeping my fingers crossed for some sunshine.
At least I’ve put together a pretty much perfect Midsummer page on Sweden.se for you to enjoy. So Happy Midsummer to all of you!
PS. The Swedish Crown Princess’s wedding was almost as nice as my own royal wedding would have been — and they did serve crayfish from the west coast, just as I recommended. 
…is Sweden.se’s very own outlet of individual opinion. We all work at the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, with our offices right next to the Royal Palace in the Old Town. But what is said here does not necessarily represent the views of the Swedish Institute.
