The tourist gaze: Södermalm
A part of Stockholm, but a world of its own
In early June 2025, work took me to Stockholm. Afterwards, I moved from my hotel just next to Kungsträdgården, to one out on the island of Södermalm (AKA Söder).
Though I have visited Stockholm quite a few times over the years, Söder was a part of the city I only barely knew. I intended to rectify that. I had two and a half days to explore. And explore it I did.
I walked. A lot. With a camera. Obviously. The result was a folder of way too many photos, that I’ve only now been able to decide what to do with.
There will be three posts. One will be dedicated to stickers, posters, paste-ups and graffiti. The kind of thing I shoot wherever I go. And another will be dedicated to a single walk along Södermalm’s southern shore.
This first post though, consists of photos from my other exploration of the island.
Taking photos in places you don’t know well, is a very different thing from shooting your hometown. The motives tend to be the first things that catches your (my) eye. The obvious stuff. The kind of thing you tend to look beyond when you know a place well.
You see the place with “fresh” eyes. Without experience. You see it with your “tourist gaze”. How could you not?
The photos in this post are just that. Parts of Södermalm as I saw it, mostly for the very first time. They are surface observations. They lack the depth time and experience gives. But because of that, they may have some of the freshness and joy of seing something for the first time.
So come with me, to the island state of Södermalm. A part of Stockholm, yes. But very much a world of its own.
Fantastic series. It’s fabulous seeing your take on my city. I know where you are standing on the majority of these as I’ve photographed apartment s all over Södermalm. I particularly like the ones taken close till medborgare platsen.
I’m photographing there on the morning if my man flu doesn’t get in the way!
Interesting series, Arnfinn! When I read "puddfluencer", I realize what I knew you from mostly. A part of a place you didn't explore before can reveal so much, not only about that neighborhood, but also about your own photography (if you compare your new photos to your older ones). Thank you for subscribing to my Substack, I hope we can exchange views and opinions. I just read some things already I found extraordinary and I welcome anything that can add to the discussion here. In this series, I particularly liked the silent shots and the (sometimes obstructed) longer focal length shots.