Stockholm Photograph Gallery

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As I wandered round Stockholm, I found this drag racing event. A popular summer sport in Sweden, this square was full of maybe 10 of these drag racing mechanic teams.
The competition idea was to e.g. change a piston and re-start the engine. The team that fired up first, won. Earplugs were available to every passer-by.
As I watched this team work, I thought I'd be able to watch for the time to put the earplugs in. No problem, only I hadn't counted on another team being faster. Fascinated with what was in front of me, ears unplugged, I was suddenly hit on the back of the head with the deafening roar of the drag racer a couple of metres away.
I actually ducked in panic. Daddy Cool.
It was hard to take decent photos of Stockholm in such grey, flat light. Instead, I found myself looking for angles and details.
Judging by the shop this hung outside, this looked like a relatively old clock. I wondered whether it was a flavour of old-ish Stockholm. Though it could've been put there recently.
This terrace-style outdoor club, F12, was staging a Manchester themed night/promotion. It was an exclusive place and popular with some of Stockholm's young, trendy and beautiful people.
The Icebar, Stockholm's coolest bar. At least, that's what it said on the merchandise. A strange but cool idea where the whole bar was made of ice. The walls, the bar, the furniture and even the glasses are made from blocks of ice.
A grey day but still a typical Stockholm kind of view.
This fella sat fishing with his feet dangling over the edge of Gamle Stan (Old Town) - his whisky, cigarettes and special brew at his side. When asked if it was okay to take a photo, he replied and went on to chat in perfect (though slightly slurred) English. Even the drunks are bi-lingual in Stockholm.
Being on your own in an unfamiliar city is sometimes tricky. After a while, this view from the hotel started to look interesting. Slightly worrying, yes, but even now the lines and light in this photo were enough to make it through the stringent Hawkinsian photo selection process.
Crossing a bridge to Gamle Stan, these diffused rays twinkled in the corner of my eye. It was the first sign of the weather improving.
Probably one of the more esoteric photos in any Hawkinsian gallery. This is a manhole cover. Due to the recent fascination with communist era iconography, this detail was kind of interesting. The top half being the crown of the Swedish monarchy, yet the bottom half looked more like a symbol for Soviet state electricity. It just looked a little incongruous.
A political demonstration banner. The situation in Cuba, Central and South America was referred to by people in Berlin and Stockholm. I don't even know what they are but these issues don't make it onto the UK's political radar.
The last evening in Stockholm. This is the sunset over a hub of Stockholm's railway network.