Illustrated Söder

Paste ups, graffiti and stickers, from the streets of Södermalm

My two previous posts from a trip to Södermalm (AKA Söder) in Stockholm last June, were posted under the header “The tourist gaze”. Because, well, they were seen through the eyes of a tourist.

I had only briefly visited small parts of the island a few times before. Most of the photos were from places I was seeing for the first time.

The first of those posts consisted of pictures from all over Söder, the second of photos from a walk along its southern shore.

The photos in this post are different. They are made up of stickers, graffiti, paste ups and doodles. And a single yarn bomb. The stuff I shoot wherever I happen to be.

My fascination for these subjects are twofold. Firstly I do enjoy this subject matter in itself. A city without them feels sterile and … less alive.

But it is, of course, a question of quality, relevance, and context. A sticker from local club Hammarby (AKA Bajen), is obviously relevant at Södermalm. A sticker from my local club Vålerenga is mostly relevant because I live were I do. Graffiti and paste ups are good if, well, they are good. Or funny. Or both.

But secondly, and more importantly, I enjoy these kinds of subjects as they are slowly swallowed up by the city. As the disintegrate and decay, as they “melt into the city”. Some of the stuff here do, and it is all the more beautiful and fascinating for it.

My approach to the first category is somewhat documentarian, my approach to the second is more “arty”. I believe the process of decay and transformation can create one of those “wholes” that is “greater than its parts”.

The kind of thing I am always on the lookout for. A kind of thing that will only happen once, because it is a product of the interaction between object, place, conditions and time.

There is no particular order to these photos. They are from large parts of the island, and is curated by the “whatever seems to work best” principle.

There is quite a lot of football stuff, though. Because you really cannot separate Söder from Hammarby.

“Ladies first!”

The end.