QUESTIONNAIRE

How did you find your home (have you been looking for it 

for a long time/found it by accident etc.)?

Where i live and work now, is actually a part of my
parents ’land’ and i live there,
in a small soldiers cottage from the 18th century.

The move here came about just a while back,

from me needing a place to ’land’ after a break-up.

I think i couldn’t have found a better place to heal, 

than here, where the fields surround me 

and where amazingly starry nights make for
a very natural & uncluttered space. 

It’s easier to find the way back to yourself then perhaps. 

And if I don’t want to be alone, we gather around the fireplace
and talk, or play cards, or just go for a 

silent walk among the fields.

Is there a funny anecdote about your home, 

your move-in, the renovation process, a history, etc. ?

It was very cold when i just moved in,

and as stunning as the old, original  windows are,

- they are also just single glass, so at its lowest

the house was just below 8 degrees. 

when i woke up there’d be ice & snow crystals

on the inside of the windows.

Then you get to test yourself a little bit..

Do you crawl under the duvets & cry?

Or do you make a fire in the beautiful fireplace

& take photographs of the crystals.

I chose the latter.

And put on an extra pair of teal socks.

Then i still cried though. 

What makes your home special / different from other homes?

I think any home is special if it’s soulful, - if it’s you.
Then it reflects the person living there. 

I think my home, however temporary,

reflects me in the sense that i surround myself 

with things that has meaning to me.

Perhaps the object tells a story or it has both

beauty and purpose.

I think it was Virginia Woolf that said

’Arrange whatever pieces come your way.’

and i’ve been told i’ve done that since i was a child.

The little, or ’simple’ things,
like a bouquet of fading tulips, can have so much beauty
if it is just put in the right place or surrounding,

if its given a meaning. 

At least that’s what people say that visit me,

that every little thing has its special place and that

that’s peaceful somehow.

It sounds beautiful when they say it.

What did your home look like when you saw it 

for the first time / when you moved in?

My parents had, as they always seem to, 

put their (or our-) kind of touch,
to even this little ’extra house’..
.. with a base of natural & timeless

in wooden floors, exposed ceiling beams and

original stone walls; just treated carefully 

with egg oil tempera colors.

My father, who’s in construction,
had built the tiny little kitchen and my baby sister e

had hand-painted the black & white squares 

to make the checkered wooden floor. 

The night i arrived, heart in pieces, 

they had lit the fireplace and we just carried in
very few, - & carefully selected things.

Like the bed and my soft, white bedlinen,
some flowers, a pile of books
(’if i were a doctor that’s what i’d prescribe’, my dad said)
and one kettle plus my favorite cups,
so we could make great coffee right away. 

That was a special, bittersweet first night

that i’ll never forget.

Where do your get your inspiration from?

From the arts as a whole, i think..

Mainly from books and film.

When my company is occupied by the

fighting scene of the latest Bourne movie,
all i can see is the stunning house they’re running around in,
guns blazing.. the amazing rounding of the staircase,
the light from a window in passing
and the beautifully worn wallpaper

that gets pumped with bullets.

I think perhaps also we,

- much as it is with creating photography as well;

try to re-create that or those homes we either lived in,
or visited, that for some reason stayed on in our hearts.

We travelled a lot to Tuscany when i was younger

and we’ve visited some amazing people,

in the most beautiful old houses there,
with such a natural & cool sense of style, 

- & above all; a non-trendy approach to living 

that i love and that is so inspiring to me.

What was the nicest piece of furniture or 

home accessory that you have ever bought?

We each bought an ’ombra della serra’ in my family

when we visited Volterra in Italy.
(ombra della serra is italian for ’shadow of the evening’
and is an etruscan statue from the town of Velathri, later Volterra.
The statue is a nude male cast in bronze, 

about 60 cm long, with a very elongated body.

It has similarities to the work of 

Alberto Giacometti, - whom i like a lot).

Mine got stolen in a housebreaking some years ago

and i’m determined to one day go back to

Volterra for another ’shadow man’.

How did you find / where did you buy 

all those interesting books in your home?

I’m a real book-lover as the rest of my family,

- & quite many are gifts from them.

Since we were children it’s a christmas tradition 

that all three sisters get a pyjama, our favorite chocolate

and a book, so that the days after christmas can be 

spent lounging around reading, or as often in my case;

enjoying the photos of an amazing book..

The rest is from travels.
I always visit book-stores when i travel
and my latest purchases book-wise were made in Paris,
in the magic book-store ’Shakespeare and Company’
and at inspiring Colette at Rue Saint-Honoré.
Also, every time i visit Stockholm these days, - i go to beautiful 

’Fotografiska’, ~ one of the worlds largest meeting

places for contemporary photography,

and i’ve made a habit of always buying
a photo book in their lovely shop.

Was there any special day / occasion in your home, 

that you remember?

I remember a big dinner party my parents held here,

just a few months ago, when i yet had no idea 

i’d come to live here, in this house.

It entertained almost all the friends of my family,

people that has been a part of my life since me & my sisters were born
and i had many moments that evening & night,
of looking around that huge table,

at all those faces, - at all those people that has been 

there along my entire life journey. 

For some reason, that night i was taking them all in
an extra lot;

seeing them engaged in lively discussions, 

laughter & conversation. 

I think that’s all in the walls here now,

somehow, that’s a good thought. 

{lina | finaste lilla musan | behind the scene spira s/s 13}

jag svarade på de här & en hel massa andra

frågor i en intervju häromkvällen,

för tyska inrednings magasinet 

20 PRIVATE WOHNTRÄUME som kommer i vår.
marie {MO} & ur-duktiga fotografen sara svenningrud
var här och plåtade för norska magasinet kk ursprungligen

{utkommer om någon vecka för Er i Norge}

och jag hörde att reportaget även kommer 

att dyka upp i bl.a Residence i vår..

jag jobbar med spira s/s 13, lyssnar på

värvets podcast med kristoffer triumf, 

dricker alldeles för mycket kaffe och försöker 

laga mitt hjärta med randig tejp, fina samtal, 

brev till okända & en liten, hemlig kvälls-ritual. 

tack för att Ni alltjämt är här.

trots min tystnad. 

kärlek till Er,

h

±

{canon eos 5d mark II | canon ef 50mm/1.4}

{© hannah lemholt}

an interview | part 4

Any new project you’re working on ?

mm.. i have some conceptual shoots planned 

with my favourite girls, 

that i really hope we get to realize this summer,

- & an idea that is forming for a series of photos that

need some more intricate costuming. 

and i’m working on an exhibit scheduled for 

stockholm in the fall. 

Is there a photo you regret posting online ? 

je ne regrette rien ! 

*smiles* 

.. & det var hela intervjun,
{som började här}..

tack för alla Era fina ord. 
de betyder mycket ! 


kärlek,

h

an interview | part 3

In skin retouching, when do you think enough is enough ? 

the short version answer would be that enough is enough when,

- or rather before {!}, you take something away from the

expression of a person or from the personality.
and if i get to choose i want to leave for example scars alone;
as i find them so beautiful on a body or a face.
like a map of that persons life. 

the longer, - & more self-revealing answer is
that this topic is quite a hot one for me at this very moment,

- & the very area of editing that i’m working on evolving in right now.

i am just a few years in to this and am autodidact
in photography as well as editing, and find my learning curve
to be very steep. with retouching i also think it can be very deceptively 

tempting to go over the top with retouching, as it is suddenly 

even possible to ’perfect’.

for me it is also a question that has me feeling a bit contradictive

within myself, as i truly think it is the ’imperfections’ 

of a person that make them especially beautiful.

and on another note, i know that, with lina for example, 

there have been photos where i didn’t even touch her face, 

but i even think myself that it looks like i have. 

for example with her eyes; i’ve gotten a comment on flickr’
about them being ’too photoshopped’ when in reality i did
n o t h i n g to them.
we actually even laughed at that on our last shoot,
that she looks like she has a permanent & self-acting refill of
’clear eyes’ or something, as her whites of the eye 

are always so white. and having jossi doing make up,

there’s another aspect; she has magic hands. 

let’s leave it at; 

i’m in the place of actually wanting to do less retouching, 

- & also wanting to learn more about it.

Where do you get most of your textures ? 

mostly from flickr’, some from this lovely woman,

 and i also scan myself a lot. old stuff. *smiles*

Do you think photography websites such as flickr’ can be unfair in terms of 

comments and followers to some people sometimes ? 

i don’t think it’s my place to determine what is unfair regarding popularity,

- & i don’t give it much thought. i always focus on what i am doing, 

and comment others in an honest way in the sense that i don’t 

comment just to comment. 

Some people say that female photographers can be recognized a lot easier 

than male photographers, what do you think ?

i’ve never heard that, and haven’t thought about it. 

i think i want to stay in the belief that that is not a gendered issue,

but that it is indeed about the imagery.

perhaps i’m being naïve here, but no, i don’t see that as an issue.

Do you prefer shooting indoors or outdoors ? 

equally, i’d say.

or rather, - it’s all depending on the light. 

Is fame important to you ?

yes and no. 

no as i’ve never had fame as an aspiration. 

yes as fame can be an opportunity to affect people

in a positive way, - & also if fame would mean money,

as money would mean freedom. 

freedom to create some of the crazy, elaborate, 

time-consuming & / or demanding ideas one gets, 

or be able to choose to do some work for free for example. 

yes also because fame can open doors to the possibility

of shooting some extraordinarily great faces out there, like 

some actors for example, that has great presence 

for photography and portraits.

In your early years as a photographer, what was the mistake you made a lot ? 

i’m still in my early years so i make mistakes all the time!

perhaps {& maybe hopefully? -} i always will too..

.. but one that i think i’ve moved passed is not taking the shot.

some, or most moments you never get a second chance with in photography.
today i am more secure in shooting strangers for example.
you can always ask, is what i try to think.

so the mistake i perhaps used to make was not asking, 

not seizing the moment.

Name people you enjoy working with, models or other photographers,

or people you wish to work with both models and photographers ? 

i haven’t worked that much with models at all yet,

but consider my first one to be a very lucky first; and that was lina, 

who i met doing the first shoot for swedish clothing brand called spira,

- & she became my muse right then and there.

we’re really connected and i often don’t even have to talk 

for her to know what i want her to do. 

i also love working with jossi, a make up artist & hair stylist,

- & it’s the same thing with her. we’re connected. 

i haven’t worked alongside another photographer,

but if i really get to wish and dream, i’m going right back to

my two favorites; paolo roversi
{if i’ll ever do real fashion photography, his is the way to do it, i think,
- & for sure the man to learn from}

and sally mann .. oh, just the thought of getting
under the fabric sheet of her 100-year-old 8 x 10 bellows view camera 

gives me goosebumps..!

the list of dream ’models’ to shoot is considerably longer.

bob dylan, audrey tatou, mads mikkelsen, salma hayek, 

morgan freeman, aishwarya rai, and many more.. 

.. and when it comes to actual models.. 

arizona muse, alyson le borges, amber valetta, 

natalia vodianova, daria werbowy, 

tasha tilberg, tiiu kuik.. i could go on forever.

{part four}

i sista lilla delen av intervjun, den 4e; 

mer om kommande projekt, - & om det finns 

något jag ångrar att jag publicerat.. 

.. & här började det hele. 

hoppas Ni mår riktigt bra,
- & att en inspirerad vecka just tagit sin början.

kärlek,

h