School is over!

A reason for celebration among thousands of students on this warm June day in Östersund!

As for me, I was there to "congratulate" (see what I did there😉) two of my good friends and to take photos of the band playing the late-night show put on by the city!

This is my second time spending graduation day in Östersund, and I must say it is a sight to behold! People, students, music, and good vibes EVERYWHERE from early morning all through to the next day! Östersund really comes alive during this day.

The Swedish way...

If I told you that the Swedish way to celebrate your graduation is to wake up early, get drunk, and then go party on the back of a truck... would you believe me?!

Well, you should since that is pretty standard behaviour among swedish graduates😁

The afterparty!

As darkness slowly falls, a big crowd starts to form outside Östersund's town hall because it is here, at midnight, where a graduation concert is held.

The concert is put on by the city and has been a graduation tradition for 20-odd years here in Östersund

The city says it is a way to show some appreciation for the graduates and to create a sense of community... I personally think it is an easy way for them to control a massive crowd of drunk students😅

Regardless of its purpose, it is one hell of a fun gathering and creates an amazing atmosphere for everyone in town!

The town hall, swamped by the graduation crowd

The 1 AM party!

The front row!

The band

Luckily for me, the band that happens to play this traditional show is made up entirely of local musicians; two of whom I happen to know. So, after chit-chatting with the guards a bit, we managed to get me free access to all the premises. This led me to get up and behind the band to get a few shots overlooking the sea of white graduation hats! Neat!

I also spent a lot of time in the buffer zone in front of the crowd, taking pictures of all the happy faces and getting quite a few people to interact with me, which is always fun.

Black and white zone

When editing this session, I decided to do quite a few black-and-white images. I simply found it to be very fitting, especially if I didn't like the colours of the stage lights, or when I felt like a B&W edit helped make use of the darkness and grunge in this very low-light situation.

Summary

What can I say? Shooting events like these is always a rush! And generally speaking I'm really happy with the photos from this June day... or well, night😅

'Til next time, Östersund! Rock on🤘

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