Black and white are the colors of photography

This is Maria and Ismael. They are Romas and come from a Romanian town. I learned to know them in the summer of 2014. I used to visit them and their friends at their camp in Huskvarna. I hope that I shall be able to visit them, their children and grandchildren in Romania in the nearby future. A color version of the photo has been published in a Swedish Magazine. But personally I prefer this black and white version.

It happens every now and then that I get the question why I prefer black and white? Robert Frank has already given a better answer to that question and therefore I choose to quote him:
- Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to Which mankind is forever subjected. 

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Can women wear bikinis in Saudi Arabia?

A couple of years ago I visited Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula together with my family. The town was filled with tourist from all around Europe, I could hear people speak Russian, English, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch and even some Arabic. The temperature was quite nice and most of the tourists gathered at the beaches were they enjoyed the sunshine and the sea.

I came in contact with one of the Egyptians who worked at the facility. When I had talked to him for a while I asked him the following ironic question:

- Are there similar tourist facilities on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba and can women wear bikinis there?

He didn't understand my irony, and his answer was quick: 

- No, no, it's Saudi Arabia on the other side they practice a fundamentalist form of Islam and women aren't allowed to dress in bikinis or swimsuits there, they have to cover their whole bodies. He made a sweeping gesture with his arm over the beach to emphasize what he just said. 

That's when he realized that two Russian women in bikini took photos of each other on the reef. The reef is very vulnerable to damage and it's forbidden to walk there. He ran away from the conversation and started to yell in English that they had violated the ban to walk on the reef. The Russian women didn't understand him and waved cheerfully to him and continued to take pictures. The Egyptian got angrier and angrier. A Russian man who could speak English came to his aid and informed the women that they wasn't allowed to walk on the reef.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The Boy and the Sea

Text and photo: Mikael Good

Two photographers ruled the stage at Sweden’s Photographer of the Year Award

Two Photographers stood out among the rest at Sweden’s Photographer of the Year Award that was held in the Concert Hall Spira in Jönköping 5/3-2016.

One of them was Magnus Wennman (above right) who works for the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. He won the picture of the Year Award with a picture from his photo project "Where the children sleep". Magnus Also won the awards for photo reportage, multimedia and he took first, second and third prize In the category portraits! The other photographer who ruled the stage was Anders Hansson (top middle) from the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) that was awarded photographer of the year as well as winning the prices for best news image of the year award in Sweden and abroad.



I took the opportunity to ask Magnus a question about winning so many awards when I had a small chat and congratulated him to the awards:
- I am proud and very happy for all the excellent prices that I won today.



Text and Photo: Mikael Good