21 July 2008

Five minutes of Dogma


I am in the process of rediscovering my childhood ’after school recreational', the Stockholm Public Library, with its exciting architecture and with images from the Iliad- the story of a single man's anger.

"Sing, goddess, the rage of Achilles the son of Peleus,
the destructive rage that sent countless ills on the Achaeans."

I once took some photos of the Frisians on the walls. Today I have only a few minutes to spare and I have no plans for a photo session. However, I shoot a picture of a woman who is standing next to me speaking to her cell phone.


Suddenly someone is passing by. I take a picture almost on instinct.


Now I spot the woman in her strange and beautiful dress. She halts about five metres below at the entrance to the information. She seems to be waiting for someone. I take another picture.




I find the woman and her dress exciting in connection with the images from the Iliad on the wall. I step down to get closer, and take some more pictures.






I walk down behind the woman, looking for pictures from a different angle, and shoot two more pictures. Looking at the clock I realize that I am late and must leave the library. But there were some photos taken, mostly thanks to an exciting and beautiful dress.

The photos are taken according to my Dogma 07-promise: One camera, one lens, one film. The picture should be cropped directly in the viewfinder, which means that the it should be composed at the moment of exposure.

Equipment: Leica M6, 28 mm,
Film: Tri-X exposed after 400 ASA
Developed in D-76.
Text and photos © Bengt Björkbom

well made well

Photo: Jan Bernhardtz