26 Augusti 2018 - 21:02
Kulturkalaset is a festival which takes place every year for 6 days in Gothenburg in the middle of August. This year I took vacation from work to being able to get as much as I could from the event to photograph, create new contacts and not feeling like I have to stress my way through the week. Taking vacation was probably my best decision that I made because the week turned out to be very eventful and I had several late nights with working with my photography.
This post will be a short summary of my week at Kulturkalaset and EuroPride to give you a bit of insight of what I got to experience and who I met during the festival. I will also give you a sneak peek of some of the photographs that I took.
When planning for this festival, I wanted to make sure that I didn't ended up only seeing people that I already know from before. I wanted to discover new artists, hear new music and photograping people I haven't before. I can't get stuck at only seeing people I know. That I need to look at other directions as well, find new people and getting footage of artists that might not have the same exposure as the mainstream artists.
There was one act in particular which I think people were a bit suprised over that I went and photograph. It was the band Avatar, they are a metalband from Sweden and I'm so glad that I decided to see their concert. Let me tell you this, they actually had a staging! Not just a backdrop but a whole stage with moving platforms, props and their name visual in letter which had lights. It was so much fun to see the effort they had made with making their staging as cool as it was. I don't think I have ever seen a Swedish act done a staging with that much effort in it. I really appreciated seeing that.
Of course, I attended concerts with artists that I know my followers want to see more of. A lot of these artists are people that I personally follow as well and know that I would appreciate photographing too.
I actually had a conversation with another photographer about Darin. We both like him as an artist but after photographing him a couple of times, we know his signature moves that he ALWAYS does in his performances. That a lot of the photos that you take of him looks a lot the same, no matter if it has been months or even years in between them. I thought it was a bit funny hearing that from someone else. Haha
I ended up seeing LIAMOO twice that week but I didn't mind it at all. I have to say though, seeing him doing his own set was much more fun than the RIX FM Festival gig.
It was very nice seeing Tove Styrke live. Last time I saw her was right after Swedish Idol so I don't even think I've seen her perform any of her own released music until last week. It was very nice seeing her and she was as bubbly as she always has been.
Every time I photograph Loreen, the light conditions are horrible for a photographer. I get that she wants to create a mood on stage and I appreciate that. But as a photographer trying to get quality footage of her is very difficult. You will have to see my effort in my post about her gig that is coming.
I SAW ALCAZAR PERFORM A MEDLEY OF SOME OF THEIR BEST SONGS. I didn't even knew that I was going to see them perform, I just happened to be on the right location at the right time, which I'm very happy about. It was very dark that evening but I was living and was very happy about seeing them!
DJ Lundemo which I saw three times as Jasmine Kara was performing on her DJ set. I like her, something about her vibe was nice.
Some of the people that I saw performing through out the week which isn't in any of the photos in this post are: Janice, Wiktoria, SallySwag, Danny Saucedo, Alvaro Soler, Eleni Foureira and more!
As always I payed a visit to the food markets in town, it's always a pleasure seeing the different food cultures. I bought the annual fudge, ate Thai food but I also tried new kinds of food such as an African dish.
Walking the streets during the festival was very nice. It felt like I was in a completely different city and people were kind of a a different mood than usual. The streets were full of life and happy people that enjoyed the festivities. I also really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful colours of Pride through out the week.
Heading into the big week of the year, I had made more of a plan of what I wanted to photograph during the week to make things easier for me but also to not make me way too stressed out with not knowing where to go. It was also different this time because I was accredited as press which made things a lot more easier and I didn't had to wait around too long before the concerts to get a good spot to photograph from.
The week turned out a lot more socially than I think I was prepared for. It wasn't bad thing but consider that I didn't felt that good the week before, I wasn't ready to being so outgoing that I was. I guess it was a good practice.
I met a lot of different people through out the event. Numerous familiar faces from the past but also new ones that I bonded with. It's funny to see how people some times get so interested in what I do by seeing me photographing.
One of the biggest highlights of EuroPride was definitely to meet Jasmine Kara! She was absolutely a sunshine trough all week! I adore Jasmine and her personality is one of the most wonderful I've ever come across. I can't thank her enough for all the love she showed me. The only times I've met Jasmine before has been very briefly at the afterparties of the Melfest finals. It was really nice getting time to actually talk to Jasmine and get to know her a bit more. I'm super happy that I've met her and can't wait to see her again!
Being at Kulturkalaset/EuroPride was a very learning experience. I came to realize that my photography really have had an impact of who I am today and it's something that I can't live without. My photography is one of the main factors that have helped me to being able to grow as a person and become more confident in who I am. If I didn't started or continued with my photography I wouldn't have had met the people I know, gained the experiences I have or becoming better at being social and maintaining conversations.
Attending this event also made me realize that I need to do some changes in life. I need to work at getting more independent, get my driver license and cut out the toxic people I have in my life. I'm no where close at being where I want to be in life, there's so many variables in my life that affects me in a way that makes me hold back. I know it's a process and it takes a lot of work to get to a place where you want to be but as for now, I need to take babysteps.
I have lots of footage to show from the festivites of Kulturkalaset/EuroPride. Many stories and experiences to tell. I hope you will keep following my updates here and on Intagram as I will keep posting my photographs. Don't be a stranger, you are more than welcome to reach out to me, give me likes or comments on my content. I appreciate getting feedback!
Until next time, ingat!
/Lizel
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