Af Chapman

Af Chapman

In central Stockholm lies anchored the old ship af Chapman, which has for the last numerous years been functioning as a youth hostel. It is a landmark of Stockholm, and one of the ones I am myself very fond of.

The view from the café of the Photographic Museum of Stockholm offers up a perspective of af Chapman where the masts are almost completely aligned, offering up this resulting view.

In this picture, I see a familiar scene: it reminds me of home, and of youth events I have organized in the past, where we used this hostel to house the participants. And nowadays, it also reminds me of the half-week I spent with my aunt Anna, talking about photos and pictorial composition.

And there are a few words to be said here. The picture has a few compositional elements going for it. There is a repetition throughout the picture of horizontal lines, projecting calm. The cross-bars of the masts leads the eye from the buildings on the left towards the lush greenery on the right, where the opposition of the white church spire in the green against the green buoy in front of the white quay launches the gaze back across the picture. It helps the composition that the transition from urban to forest goes by way of a vessel.