Looking back on my journeys and the hight lights of 2012.

© Text and photo Laila Duran.

The past year has been eventful for my little publishing company. The second book in the series of Scandinavian Folklore was released in May, and three more books are in production. My photos are getting a lot of attention and Norsk Folkemuseum hosted a large photo exhibition this summer with more than fifty large size photos. Norsk Garborgsenter also opened a new exhibition using 200 photos to illustrate the norwegian Bunad heritage. Here are some of the highlights from the year that passed.

In spring I was i Kautokeino, Norway, taking photos for the third book. The Samis beautiful and warming “pesk”, reindeer fur kirtles, looked spectacular. The puppy was not interested in modeling but he did enjoy the time out with his owner and his two sons.

Racing with reindeer is an old tradition in the Northern parts of Scandinavia. Nowadays however, the folk costumes has been changed in to modern clothes and protective helmets. It is great fun and there are many divisions depending on the age of the driver. The younger ones being only thirteen years old.

From the very north to the very south. I made a trip to the south of Norway in March. The bride from Mandal, Vest-Agder, told me during the photo shoot that she had two young stallions in her stables and I can never resist bringing animals to the location. The bride is wearing a reconstructed bunad from 1810 made by Mandal Husflid.

For the book “Norske Broderte Bunader”, Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo hosted two photo shoots. This model is wearing a bunad with embroidered pants and jacket. The bunad is worn in both Hallingdal and Valdres and is often reffered to as the “spelemannsbunad”.

Norsk Folkemuseum has a lot of greats sites to take photos. Here the models are playing during a break posing in Telemarks bunader at the museum petrol station.

During a trip to Ålesund we found this old boat on a shore of the great fjord. He is posing in a Sunnmöre bunad from Ålesund Husflid.

Ålesund is beautifully situated. The photos are for the book about the embroidered bunads of Norway.

In Nås, in Swedish Dalecarlia, I met with a private collector who had a wonderful folk costume collection. An unusual feature in Nås is that many of the details are crotcheted. There will be more about this in Scandinavian Folklore Vol III.

In Dalecarlia there is an elf named Ronda. She lives in the forrest and we met her while she was taking a bath in a forrest pond. The stories of the Ronda are  numerous and who could be more appropriate to feature in a book named Scandinavian Folklore?

After spending some time in the forrest of central Sweden I went to Borås further south. In the Church at Borås Museum we staged the baptism of a child. The Godmother and Godfather are dressed in folk costumes from Toarp in Västergötland.

In Rättvik in Dalecarlia I spent three days making the first photos for the book “Kronbruden”, The Crowned Bride. More than 25 people helped out and made the photos some of the best this year.

In September I went back to Norway working with Setesdalen Museum. The museum has a large collection of costumes and I was able to take photos for two of the new books.

In Jokkmokk in Swedish Lappland these young Samis put on their finest kirtles for a shoot for the next Scandinavian Folklore book.

This year the Sami Museum, Ajtté, in Jokkmokk in Swedish Lappland opened their collections to me and the curators where very helpful choosing some wonderful old pieces of handicrafts for the next book. During the summer of 2013 a photo exhibition with my photos from the north will be exhibited in the old part of the museum, and the release of the third book in the series are planned at the museum as well. The release will take place during the autumn.

If you are traveling in Sweden there will also be a photo exhibition at the Borås Museum. “Folkdräkter i närbild”, (Folk Cosume Close-Up) will not only show my photos but folk costumes and accessories from Västegötaland as well. The exhibition is in cooperation with Borås Museum and “Slöjd i Väst”. It opens on Mach 24st and closes at the end of September.

I would like to thank all the people that has helped me during this past year, making my books possible. To all of you, A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.