Street Portraits from Huskvarna part 8

One of my long term projects is "This is my home town - Husqvarna" I have been working on the project for nearly 12 years and shall continue with it for a couple of more years. The project shall eventually result in a book and a exhibition.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The local bus in Damu

For many people who lives in the remote village in China is this bus the only way to travel to the nearest city 35 km away. The bus may look simple in our eyes but for the villagers is it a important lifeline.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Street Portraits from Huskvarna part 7

In mid-May it's time for the spring market in Huskvarna. Dowtown Huskvarna is filled with market stalls, funfair and thousands of people gather to stroll, look at people and do some shopping.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Street Portraits from Huskvarna part 6

All of us remember how proud we were when we first learned how to ride the bike! This boy has recently learned how to ride the bike and he is also very proud of his new fine bicycle.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Street Portraits from Huskvarna part 5

The local footy team Husqvarna FF (HFF) played in the second division for one season before they were degraded to the third division because of a poor result. In april 2014 they met the Swedish team GAIS from Gothenburg. A match that HFF won with 2-0. The stadium was almost full, but everybody didn't want to pay 100 kronor to see the footy game. There was some free riders outside the stadium who did their best to see the match without paying for it.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Street Portraits from Huskvarna part 4

Many street photographers travel around the world to find interesting people and environments. I like to wander around the streets of my hometown and document the surroundings and the people that i meet. Two persons that I have met on the streets is Cornel and Peter. They belong to the Roma minority and come from a village in the north-east of Romania. They came to Huskvarna with the intention to get a job and an income in order to provide for their families back home. They earn some money through odd jobs, working as street musicians, collecting cans or selling the Swedish street magazine Faktum.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The reason why I work for Roma rights

The film "Time of the Gypsies" by Emir Kusturica opened up my eyes for the situation for Roma people on the Balkans. I saw it many times and I still recon it as one of the best films that I ever seen.

But it was not until 2002 that I started to take a active part in the work for the inclusion of Roma people. A article by the Romanian sociologist and Roma rights activist Nicolae Gheorghe opened my eyes for the tough situation for Roma people in Romania. He had been working for Roma people since the mid 70s together with his fellow Roma activist Professor Vasile Burtea.

Last year I met Professor Vasile Burtea for an interview and he spoke with great honour about his good friend Nicolae Gheorghe who passed away in 2013. Nicolae was a one of the most carismatic Roma leaders in Europe and his work has been very important for Roma rights in Europe.

In 1993 Nicolae and Vasile founded the first Roma NGO - Romani Criss (the Centre for Social Intervention and Studies) with the intention to provide Roma people with education and work in the formal economy. 

Nicolae who spent almost 35 years working for Roma issues in various roles had a wider dream for the Roma people. His dream was that Roma people should be included in the nations were they live and also represent a wider society that is freer and more boundless than the national state.

Text and photo: Mikael Good

The Shadow of Mount Horeb

Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai as it also is called is the place where the prophet Moses received the Ten Commandments from God which you can read about in Exodus 20:1-17.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

What would you do if your neighbours couldn't pay for their expenses?

Would you just ignore them and pretend as if they were not there? Or would you give them enough help to keep their nose above the water? Latvia is one of Sweden's neighbouring countries and even if they are a member of EU is the situation for many poor Latvians very tough. Yet few Swedes seems to know and care for the tough living conditions for their Latvian neighbours.

In recent years Latvia has emerged as a good example of how a European country can reverse the economic crisis and get back on the feets again. Although Latvia's economy is rising again, many poor families and pensioners find it difficult to pay for their expenses and they have to struggle to survive.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

I'm a Documentary Photographer

When street photography started to get really popular a couple of years ago I made a decision to stop with it and concentrate on documentary photography instead. But it happens every now and then that I take photos of people on the street when I document the areas in my surroundings. But the big difference is that I'm more free in my photography today and not trapped in all the rules and unwritten street photo laws that used to stand between the subject and me. A few years ago it was a big no no for me to use a telephoto zoom for street photo, today I'm free to use whatever lens I want, whether It's a 15mm or a 200mm.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The Face of a True Hero

This girl that I met in october 2013 in Latvia is a true hero. She decided to put her shyness aside and tell a story of poverty that most Latvians wasn't aware of. A month after my visit she decided to participate in a TV-program about how it is to grow up in a poor family. The TV-program that was shown on the National Television created a national debate about the situation for poor families in Latvia. Maany Latvians wanted to help and support the family after they had been aware of their tough situation. It's still not easy for poor families in Latvia but thanks to this heroic girl it's more common that Latvians give support to their neighbours in need than before the program.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

The International Romani Day

On April 8th, Romas from 40 countries celebrated their national day in memory of the first Roma Congress that was held in London on April 8th 1971. The Romani flag ((O styago le romengo) was introduced at the congress. The blue field in the flag symbolizes the sky, the green field ground and the red wheel symbolizes progress. The Roma national anthem Djelem, Djelem (I traveled, I traveled) was also introduced during the Roma Congress.



In 2000, proclaimed the International Romani Union (IRU) Romani Stan as Roma's own country without imposing any requirements on a territory. That the IRU choosed not to make demands on any territory is not surprising because one can say that the whole world is Roma's home country.

Much of the Roma culture, customs and their way of life have been shattered by discrimination, persecution and extermination throughout history. Up to 1 million Roma and Sinti might have been murdered by the nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War, nobody knows the exact number because the nazis didn't keep record of how many Romas that they killed. 

 

The persecution of Romani people should have ended in Europe when the evil nazi empire was finally defeated in May 1945. But instead Romas in Eastern Europe ended up behind the communist Iron Curtain and was deprived the few structures that had survived the nazi attempt to exterminate both the Romas and their culture. 

The discrimination in western Europe continued after the war and it was not until the late 1970s that Roma rights began to be discussed seriously. It took until 1982 before the West German government recognized that the Romani people beside the Jewish people were subjected for the Holocaust.

 

Romani people in Eastern Europe had hopes that they would get better life after the end of communism in 1989/1990. The hope was never fulfilled and instead the discrimination and persecution increased in many countries. Mainly because they were blamed for many of the bad things that the communist dictatorships had caused. There were even outright pogroms in some countries in Eastern Europe, houses were burned down and Romani men and even women were severely beaten and some were even killed because of their ethnicity.

Romani People are still treated as second-class citizens and are discriminated and persecuted in many countries where they have lived for nearly 1,000 years because of their ethnicity. There's a long way to go before the Romani People have been truly included into the European Community where they belong.

 

Romani people are happy people as you can see in the pictures. Despite all the difficulties they have been through they are always close to a good laugh. Joy and music welds them together and it has become a way for them to escape from all the hatred and oppression that they are often subjected to from the majority population. It's more than time that we put the history behind us and include the Romas in our society. It's also important to break down barriers between people and combat all the prejudices and stereotypes that hinder us from getting to know each other. 

Roma is Romani for human and regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religious belief we are all Roma. Jesus is love and he steps right over all the things that we humans like to sort into right and wrong and goes straight into our hearts and loves us just as the Romas (humans) that we are. Opre Roma!

 

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Dog Eat Dog

Small dogs in the size of an cat that can fit into a purse and are more like a accessory than a dog are called City Cats in Finland! I met the fighting City Cats in the Swedish town Jönköping a couple of years ago when I covered a neo nazi demonstration.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

A Latvian mother and her son

I have been on many assignments to Latvia and have learned to know the country and it's people quite well. I met this mother, her son and their dog in their little house on the Latvian countryside.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Kolja and the puppy

I met Kolja and his family in their apartment in St Petersburg, Russia on mothers day. They had just bought a puppy. The photo is not arranged I took it in the right moment just before Kolja put the puppy in my lap. The story that I wrote about Koljas mother was published in Junia magazine.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

I can see a Rainbow Rising

What is the probability that you'll see a double rainbow while listening to the song Stargazer by Rainbow? It happened to me yesterday when I went to downtown Husqvarna. I think that the double Rainbow must be some kind of PR stunt for the upcoming reunion of Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow this summer!

Stargazer Rainbow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVXy1OhaERY

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

A Properly Dressed Photojournalist

For many photojournalists is important to blend in and be like a fly on the wall to be able to capture the flying moments of time. I'm not like them since I like to be in the center of the situation fully visible and connecting with people in order to earn their confidence. Photography is socialization for me, it's a good way to learn to know interesting people. I prefer to use Leica and Sony cameras when I work since I don't like to hide behind a big bulky camera and lens. A good old Leica is still a perfect tool for photojournalists who wants to capture once-in-a-lifetime moments.

Text and Photo: Mikael Good

Messiah is Risen - Truly, He is Risen

Photo: Mikael Good