Rise & Shine - Behind the Scenes

Here is a look behind the scenes of my photo project Rise & Shine. Photographed in Sweden the summer of 2024, edited and finalized in September 2024. I traced the shadow of the man on a thick styrofoam board, cut out the shadow shape and painted it and covered it in dirt and rocks to create the feeling of the cutout shadow. See the process in the video below:

I wanted to capture the moment of transformation, the journey of leaving behind the shadows of the past, but acknowledging that those experiences have shaped who we are. The quiet power of rising from within, shining through the challenges that once held us down.

Disclaimer: Photographed with Hasselblad X2D-100c with the XCD 2,5/25V lens. No Ai- or CGI generated elements were used in the creation of this image.

Play Outside - Behind the Scenes

A look behind the scenes of the the brand new work “Play Outside“ that I photographed last summer in Sweden and have been working on since then from now and then.

This project captures the essence of children's play, evoking the feeling of being right there with them. Often, we are encouraged to "play outside," but this phrase usually means leaving the home to play. What if the game itself is to "play outside," blending indoor and outdoor experiences? Captured in a single scene questioning what is real or not.

Creating this photo involved three key steps:

1. Photographing the Kids: I captured the children with a large fabric to shade them from the sun but still provide the light from the rays through the window cutouts in the fabric.

2. Capturing the Background: The background scene was photographed again during cloudy conditions later in the day.

3. Printing and Photographing the Fabric: The background was printed and used as fabric, which I then photographed to achieve realistic creases and textures and create the perfect blend between the two worlds.

Photographed on Hasselblad X2D-100c with the HCD 38mm V lens. All combined in Photoshop, no Ai or CGI generated elements were used.

Make Purpose - Behind the Scenes

A look behind the scenes of my latest project “Make Believe“ and how it was made. Book photographed in my studio in Prague, background/surrounding photographed in Sweden and model and the grass photographed in a park in Prague, Czech Republic. Model: Inga Sitas

Work Together - Behind the Scenes

A behind the scenes video of my project "Work Together" Photographed in July 2020. In order to make the structure look as realistic as possible I build a 1:8 scale model out of concrete, additional textures where also applied in post to make it look larger. I also dragged a heavy concrete object through the tall grass to create a realistic trace behind the structure. The models where photographed at 4 different heights to match the perspective of where they would be placed on the structure. Behind the scenes video coming tomorrow of how it was made! You may see a larger version of it on my website, link in profile!

Big thanks to the models: Maria, Joakim, Mattias, Jonas
Music licenced by Epidemic Sounds: The Girl from Summer Camp - pär

Up the Past - Behind the Scenes

A look into the process of how I created my latest photo project "Up the Past" A look into the past, and idea about how we tend to see more positive on the things that are behind us, memories of how something used to be. Photographed at the same location in winter and summer in Sweden in two different perspectives and combined in Photoshop.

It was a quite long process to create this image. First I had to find a good location and house. Once I found this I wanted to photograph material for the darker part of the image in Winter and the brighter upper part in Summer.

Have a look at the video below to see how it was made!

Camera: Hasselblad H6d-50c, Light: Profoto B10 & Pro7b, Software: Adobe Photoshop.

Comfort Zone - Behind the Scenes

I wanted to create a place that gives the feeling of both a safe and comfortable place but at the same time a prison and the feeling of being trapped. Much like what a comfort zone can be like. Photographed this summer outside of Prague with a custom built green house to fit the model perfectly. Hasselblad H6D-50c @ 50mm, 2x Profoto B10.

Office Escape - Behind the Scenes

For my latest project I wanted to create a place where a person has decided to escape his old habits and obligations to take a step out into the unknown. Blocking the door with his office chair and creating a paper plane made of old office papers. (in fact made out of my old failed exams from my university time). I wanted to create a symmetric composition representing the old and new world to make it look as if it's a crossroad between the old and new path, with the man posissioned slightly to the right as if he already made up his mind, this is his escape.

I had a large silver umbrella outside the window on the right side with a flash with a warm filter that would give this soft big light from the right side on the model and environment (profoto b1x). From the left side I had a smaller flash where the window of the door is with a blue filter (profoto A1) aimed towards the model. I also had a third flash with a slight greenish filter aimed towards the ceiling giving on overall soft fill light, making the ceiling act like a giant softbox (profoto b10). That's basically it. The paper plane was a real size 2 meter prop I built and all the props in the background i either rented or bought. I wanted to give it a feeling of being a snapshot somehow so did a high res scan of a plain negative shot on a analog Hasselblad camera that I applied on top of the image to create realistic analog feeling noise / grain. The model was a friend of mine. Colors were tweaked in photoshop but that's pretty much it. Door shot separately and placed there in post in the same perspective and light. See the video below how it was made.

Stellantis - Behind the Scenes

Stellantis is a project I’ve been working on for a long time, not that it was the most complicated project but because I wanted to make sure to get all the details right. I had this idea about someone stealing stars from the night sky and I thought it would be nice if it’s done with the help of an everyday object that we all can relate to. I thought that a giant tweezer could be an interesting object and I went on a search to try to find one. It was easier said than done and as I realized they don’t make them particulary big I decided that the best way to make it come to life would be to build one. The model in the image, Stella, helped me bring it to life as she also works as a production designer on films and we found a blacksmith in Prague that could help us. We ended up with a 150 cm solid aluminium piece, fully functional. This object is currently on display as part of the exhibition in Seoul Art Center until September 2019.

Look through the images and video below to see how it was created.

Give me Time - Behind the Scenes

The struggle of going though life with more and more obligations weighing you down. People want to borrow your time, but time is not borrowed, it’s taken and never returned.

Model and environment photographed in Sweden last year, clocks bought in a vintage shop and photographed in my studio in Prague. See the behind the scenes video below:

Daybreaker - Behind the Scenes

Here you can see the process behind my latest project “Daybreaker”. Photographed in the early fall of 2018 out in a field with model and props. I wanted to capture the light hitting the model in a realistic way so I used one flash as the sun (Profoto Pro7b 1200ws with Telezoom Reflector, ¼ CTO) and another light as the moon hitting the model and prop from behind with a colder light (Profoto B1X with a white umbrella, ½ CTB). I used a large black fabric to flag “the sun“ so it would only hit the legs of the model and parts of the lever. Photographed with a Hasselblad H6D-50c @ 50mm, 1/60s, f8, iso200. The cat and various parts of the background was photographed seperatly and added into the scene in post.

Below you can see the Behind the Scenes video showing the process behind creating the project from sketch and planning to shooting and post production. Photographed in Holmestad, Sweden, August 2018.

Music: “yglo - saturday” on klangwelt records, a side project by Ryan Davis, listen more of his music under: www.ryandavis.de

Falling Asleep - Behind the Scenes

I've always found that moment right before falling asleep fascinating. When you let go of your thoughts and fall into the land of dreams. For a long time I wanted to create an image about this, and last year I got the opportunity that was the perfect start. Scroll down if you want to jump right to the behind the scenes video.

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Falling Asleep, 2018

The Girl

The idea for this project was to have a person in a room floating weightlessly, capturing that moment of falling to sleep. I figured that the best way to make the fabric of the clothes and the hair of the model to appear weightless would be to shoot it underwater.

Last year I got invited to United Arab Emirates to the XPOSURE festival (November 2017) to exhibit and speak about my work. Apart from that they had also built a huge water tank for the festival, where underwater shootings and workshops would take place. They asked me if I wanted to shoot something as well and I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to start working on this project.

Having no previous experience of under water shootings, I decided that the best way to be in control of the shoot would be to shoot from outside the tank. By pressing the lens orthogonality towards the glass underneath a black cloth, I would minimize distortions and unwanted reflections, to get as clear view of the model as possible. In terms of lighting I had a large softbox as the main light source from above and a smaller warmer light from the left shot through the glass. The water was clear and by compensating the white balance I could make it look as if the model appeared to hover weightlessly in the tank. The very talented underwater model Krysia Makiela did a fantastic job sleep-floating for me during this session.

The Room

After shooting the model I had a good starting point for the rest of the image. I knew that I wanted a lot of things happening in the room so I started looking for different props I could use. I photographed a room with a cold flash outside the window and a smaller warm flash disguised as a bed side lamp to the left. I then started shooting the different objects in various positions, some of them supported by fishing thread and some by simply holding them up. I combined all the pieces of the puzzle in Photoshop together with the model. Being consistent with light and perspective made this process quite straight forward but I deliberately let it take time to make sure I would be happy with the end result. See the process of how it was created in the video below:

Thanks

I would like to thank Simon Newton and the Xposure festival for giving me the opportunity to shoot in the tank and I would like to thank the underwater model Krysia Makiela for helping me putting this idea to life.

All Above the Sky - Behind the Scenes

All Above the Sky is a project that I wanted to realize for a long time but it was not until the summer of 2017 that I decided to start working on it. I finally found the location I was looking for by the lake "Vänern" in Sweden, more exactly here: "58°40'05.5"N 13°29'31.6"E". It was a calm late summer evening as the rain was sweeping by in the horizon. I used a Profoto 7b 1200ws with a magnum Reflector to light the rocks from the left and then later shot the model in the same light in the water. Shot and filmed on Hasselblad H6D-50c with the 50mm II. See the process in the video below:

Full Moon Service - Behind the Scenes

This is a photo I've been working on from now and then for the past 8 months. Shot in late summer of 2016 a beautiful calm evening in the middle of Sweden. I brought out 7 rice lamps, 7 light bulbs, an electric generator, a car and two models out in a field. The main part that has been retouched in this photo is to replace the rice ball with a moon texture, the light and the mood was very close to what you see in the photo. Below you can see a behind the scenes video of how it was made.

Cumulus & Thunder - Behind the Scenes

Cumulus & Thunder, 2016

New short behind the scenes video of my latest project "Cumulus & Thunder". I always thought that clouds and sheep look somewhat similar and I had this idea in mind for the past years. I finally shot it a sunny afternoon in Sweden with a ramp, fake clouds the sheep shot the day after. Made with home built tools and shot in mainly natural light. See the video here below:

Impact - Behind the Scenes

Impact, 2016

I was thinking about this idea for quite a while. I thought it would be interesting and challenging to create a lake cracking up like a mirror. I knew that I had to get real mirrors to create the effect of the lake cracking up as realistic as possible. In early 2015 I found an old Gym that were selling off their old mirrors. I decided it was time to get this idea started, bought four 220x160 cm mirrors and had them cut into differently shaped triangles at a glazier (a professional glas cutter). I brought out the mirrors, a boat and the model to a stone-pit last summer (2015). See how it was made below: (Click here for more behind the scenes videos)

Soundscapes - Behind the Scenes

I had this idea about creating a landscape from a sound wave, over time I developed this idea. The surroundings were shot on Iceland and the landscape coming out from the gramophone in the Swedish countryside. My sister found an old gramophone player in a vintage store a few years ago and I thought it would fit this idea perfectly. Eric and Kristian Alnemar were my models for this one.

Soundscapes, 2015

Even though it was a pretty straight forward process of putting it together I thought it could be fun to put together a very short Behind-the-Scenes video to show how it was made. See how it was made below: (Click here for more behind the scenes videos)