Bad Waves/Good days.

On some days, even the worst of waves are pure fun. From Mats Kahlstrom. 

Mats Kahlstrom.

Mats takes ridiculously good photographs and hails from Sweden but now resides in Stavanger on the west coast of Norway.

So whereabouts are you based?
I am originally from a tiny island called Gotland, situated on the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Sweden. Nowadays I live in Stavanger, on the south-west coast of Norway. I really like it here, a buzzing town with great transportation possibilites to the ”outside world” but with waves just a few minutes drive away. Great surfing, great city and very close to the mountains.

Favourite spot to surf in the North Sea? 

I've only surfed Stavanger so far, but would very much like to head north to surf Lofoten och Stad here in Norway. These breaks seem really good. Stavanger offers alot of variety which makes the coast surfable for almost any swell direction.

Favourite subject to shoot?

Skateboarding, bmx, snowboarding and surfing are without doubt my favourite subjects. I also enjoy travel photography and I always carry my camera with me when out travelling.

What's in your camera bag and what can't you live without?
I shoot with a Nikon D300, a bunch of prime lenses and strobes from Nikon and Elinchrom. I also shoot some rolls of film with my Hasselblad 500C/M. I would not survive a long time without my 35mm lens (50mm equiv). I just love that focal length. Also, I crave for potato chips, swedish meatballs and watching a sunrise over misty mountains.

You can check more of Mats work out here www.matskahlstrom.se

TOR BEGONIA.

Last year when we traveled to Norway and Sweden to shoot Uncommon Ideals, we traveled aboard a DFDS ship called the TOR BEGONIA that was transporting freight from Immingham to Gothenburg. Being on a 'real' ship, a working ship is an experience, an amazing experience. We had a tour of the engine rooms, a behemoth that is so colossal I can't begin to describe it, we spent time in the mess eating great food, chatting to weathered sailors that wouldn't be out of sorts in a Kerouac tale, helping ourselves to a overstocked fridge, where the find of the trip was the banana-chilli-sauce (another story). But constantly I was drawn to the bridge where thousands of square miles of empty North Sea, rigs, fishing boats, coast guard's messages, weather reports, stories and bottomless cups of great coffee passed hours and hours on those two trips. If you ever get the chance to spend hours on a bridge take it, I was enthralled.

Why?

The people of Norway showed us a lot of love when we recently visited... our thoughts and hearts are with ya'll right now.

Norway Image Dump III.

Norway Image Dump II.

Norway Image Dump.

Good waves, good people, good times and an

insanely beautiful country = LOTS of shots,

more to follow.

Northern Lights.

Yeah-Way.

They should rename the place Yeah-Way... Norway looking fun.

Norway.

The boys and gals from Lapoint Surfcamp Stadt are getting involved. More and more coverage is coming outta Norway and hitting the surf media and it's looks like they get their fair of waves, I for one can't wait for a trip over there in the near future. Big shout to Goran Sivertsson for the shots. And if your off to Norway check out their camps Lapoint Norway. Cheers fellas!