La Traiviata Through The Lens

Four weeks ago I fell down a rabbit hole, into the Wonderland that is Folkoperan, to start rehearsals for the opera La Traviata. It's been four weeks of creativeness, craziness, sweaty hard work, and a LOT of laughter and coffee! In the middle of it all I also managed to get a flu-like cold, which kept me banned from the opera house for a few days. Last week we finally did our two premieres though, so now we can crawl out of that rabbit hole again, and only return for shows three times a week. Both premieres went really well, ending with standing ovations from the amazing audiences, so I'm really looking forward to keep doing this over and over this fall!

Photographer Markus Gårder spent two days with us during our rehearsals, to shoot some press photos. It's difficult to get a good perspective of everything going on on stage when you're actually in the middle of it all yourself. So seeing these pictures made us all aware of how beautifully staged this version of La Traviata is! Here are a few of these photos. To see more, and buy tickets, go here!

One of our two Violettas - Julia Sporsén. And yes, that's me humping one of the drag queens to the right...

Jesper Säll, one of our two Alfredos, on the horse!

And here we have our second Violetta - Susanna Andersson - being filmed by Annina, sung by the one and only Carolina Blixt!

On the floor - Germont, sung by Jeremy Carpenter. I feel so calm when he sings...

And this is a study in how to shake violently, while at the same time eating licorice ropes... Haha! I'm going to be SO tired of licorice after this season...

Five of the fabulous drag queens doing their thing!

Our second Alfredo, seen here, is sung by Per-Håkan Precht.

All photos copyright Markus Gårder.

Summer Shoot

During the summer it's usually at least a little bit warmer than during the winter here in Sweden. So this time of the year it feels completely ok to do photo shoots with less clothes on than three layers of fur coats. One sunny day I got together with photographer Peter Nilsson to do a shoot, and here is the result!

Photo: Peter Nilsson

Brassaï

To the general public, Guyla Halász (9 September 1899 - 8 July 1984) is more known as Brassaï - a pseudonym he took from the name of his place of birth, meaning "from Brasso". Brassaï was a Hungarian photographer, sculptor, writer and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France, after he had moved to Paris. He often walked the streets of this city at night, and that is what led him into photography "in order to capture the beauty of streets and gardens in the rain and fog, and to capture Paris by night", as he later wrote. He spent a lot of time photographing the seedier life of the city, but also portrayed high society, intellectuals, his friends, the ballet and the grand operas. In 1936 Brassaï immigrated to New York, where he developed his reputation as a street photographer and exhibited his work. Many of his photos looks like stills from Film Noir movies. They're full of dark mists and feelings, and here are a few of them.

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Prostitutes of Storyville

Photographer John Ernest Joseph Bellocq (1873 - 1949) was born in the French Quarter in New Orleans. In his earlier days he was a bit of a dandy, but during the later part pf his life he lived alone and got a reputation for being eccentric and unfriendly, with little interest in anything than his photography. He earned his living mostly by shooting landmarks, ships and machinery for local companies, but he also photographed the hidden life of opium dens in Chinatown and of the prostitutes in Storyville - the latter which I want to show you some pics from. All the Storyville photographs are of women, posing either naked, clothed or wearing masks. These pictures were all taken in the beginning of the 1900s, and give you a bit of an inside look at how the prostitutes lived in New Orleans in those days. Many of the faces has been scraped out, but it's not certain who did this, whether it was Bellocq himself, or his Jesuit priest brother, who inherited the photos after Bellocq's death. Here are a few of them...

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Frans Von Stuck

German symbolist/Art Nouveau painter, sculptor, engraver and architect Frans Von Stuck (February 24, 1863 - August 30, 1928) was noted for his erotic and comic treatment of mythological themes. After studies at different art schools his career went straight upwards. He won several prizes for his oevres and became an honorary member of several European academies. Here are some of his paintings, most often filled with dangerous femme fatales, mythological and symbolic themes. But he also produced a few early landscapes, and many portraits.

The Guardian of Paradise/Angel with Flaming Sword, 1889.

The Sphinx (V.2), c. 1889.

Sensuality/Eve and the Snake, 1891.

The Sin, 1893.

The Kiss of the Sphinx, 1895.

Dancers, 1896.

Portrait of Frau Feez, 1900.

Susanna Bathing, 1904.

Wounded Amazon, 1904-05.

Salome, 1906.

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