Street photography

Down-and-out

28/03/2017 by Marthin Leave a Comment

Sadly, we have our share of poverty-stricken people in Oslo. The social services in Norway are quite good, and although not perfect they are mostly able to offer at least a decent level of living for our citizens. But on the pavements you´ll also encounter a noticeable amount of Romanies who have come here to scrape up a living by begging on the streets. It´s not my intention to spark the discussion of how to treat these people, but no matter what one’s opinion there´s no discussion they being extremely poor.

The lady to the right had stationed herself at one of several entrances to Jernbanetorget Underground Station, one of the city’s most central transport hubs. And as you can see she experiences rather a challenging time, trying to get the attention from people hastening to the station.

Glowing

03/03/2017 by Marthin Leave a Comment

I usually take a lot of B/W shots. But not this time, here we have something completely different.

As I stood on the underground train heading to work in the early hours, I spotted a hard, strong glow radiating from a construction site close to Brynseng Underground Station. Its effects upon people waiting for their trains immediately caught my eyes, forcing me out of the morning semi-consciousness resulting from just having absorbed two small espressos so far …

So I left the carriage, and tried a series of shots from different angles before the natural light came into play.

Brick Lane

24/02/2017 by Marthin Leave a Comment

You’ll find one of the most exciting places to bring your camera for a street hunting in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, more exactly in Brick Lane. It runs from Aldgate, through Spitalfields, ending in Bethnal Green, all of course genuinely placed east in the city.

Brick Lane has been an ethnical melting pot for a long time. In the 19th century it was made up mostly by Irish People and Ashkenazi Jews, but nowadays the Bengalis have more or less taken over as the largest group of the area, reflecting in its copious amounts of nice curry houses.

This picture was taken as I leisurely strolled the street in the direction of Bethnal Green. I think the lady in the alleyway captures the pulse of a modern city spot on. And, remember, no matter which religion is right for you, one thing’s for sure. Always keep your telephone ready!

Eye of the tiger

17/02/2017 by Marthin Leave a Comment

If you are living in Oslo, or have experienced the pleasure of visiting my beautiful city, this is, of course, a well known place.

However, the tiger statue outside the main railway station isn´t there just by pure chance. Oslo is commonly named ´Tigerstaden´which translates into ´Tiger City”. And this obviously carries its own background story.

Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832-1910), one of Norway´s most prominent writers, playwrights and poets, named the city so in the poem ´Siste sang` (´Last Song´) originally published in 1870. By creating this nick he intentionally called out the city as a cold, harsh place, always ready to get the better of anyone trying to establish themselves there.

The situation is different today, obviously. The inhabitants of Oslo are really quite relaxed and welcoming towards strangers (although a little bit timid, but that´s on the other hand just a common denominator of us Norwegians …). What else to mention is that Oslo is an extremely safe city. Of course, we have our issues as all metropolisis, but the crime rate is comparatively low, and even in the rowdiest moments you can walk relatively safe as long as you take the obvious precautions valid everywhere.

Misty rush hour

04/02/2017 by Marthin Leave a Comment

As I´ve mentioned in earlier posts, we´ve had an unusual foggy winter so far here in Oslo. As I wandered by the Opera House the other day, the fog poured in from the sea at the same time the darkness was about to set in.

And this particular combination put a spell on an otherwise dull rush hour.

Tags