Capturing Beauty: Winter Swimming in Scandinavian Championships 2024

I’ve been nominated by International Photo Awards

I like to pretend that awards, and what other people think about my photographs, doesn’t really matter. But it does. Partly because I like to show people how beautiful the world is, despite all that’s going on in the world right now, and if people see my photos maybe they can see the beauty too and stop hurting other people and the world.

Yesterday I got the news that International Photo Awards have chosen my entry “Winter Swimming” in the category official selection in their annual contest. This made me really happy because I’ve had so little time this year for photographing, and there’s very little open water up in the north of Sweden in the winter. When I heard about the swimming I made an effort and took the bus 60 km south in -25 degrees celcius so I could photograph the brave swimmers who where making an even greater effort by swimming in those temperatures. And, the photos have been seen. And, it was an amazing and beautiful winters day outside of Skellefteå. It has been documented and seen.

You can find all of the photos from that day here in the post “Scandinavian Winter Swimming Championships 2024“.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to even log into my blog. I’ve been busier than ever. I’ve travelled some; I’ve visited Bali once more, I’ve been to Mexico photographing longboard surfing in Mazatlan, I’ve been to Visby on the island of Gotland and I’ve gotten to swim in the Mediterranean from the bay in Illetes on the island of Mallorca. I’ve also had my photographs exhibited at KvarnKonst in Kukkolaforsen by my most loved river, Torneälven. All of this will show up here.

I’ve also, almost, finished setting up my web shop HelenaTheSea.com. You can buy my products there but as with everything else, there’s more to come. I’ve also moved again, I’ve retured to Stockholm, so I’ve moved from the north of Sweden to the capital in the south which is 1000 kms south. It’s nice to be back in Stockholm but I live in a tiny apartment so I’ve had to reduce my belongings once again and use my skills developed by playing Tetris as a kid to fit in everything I need to actually live and work in a small space. But I hope I still have what’s important with me.

Oh, I’ve been practicing ashtanga yoga too with my gurus grandson Sharath Rangaswamy who had a week long workshop here in Stockholm. Just writing this makes me realize how incredibly busy I’ve been. It’s been a lot to say the least.

If you want to have a closer look at what I’ve done recently, head over to my Instagram and check out my stories on my profile, most of what I’ve been doing is up there month by month. My main account on Instagram is helenaisthlm, that link is a bit strange since you have to log into insta to see anything 😉