Praktik week 5: Behind the scenes in Uppsala City

Having been at Salgado for a while now I’ve had the chance to contribute to a number of different projects for a range of clients with the aid of my trusty laptop. But on Monday afternoon I embarked on a completely different kind of challenge.

Along with Erika, I was tasked with transforming some of Uppsala’s most recognisable statues and landmarks – all in aid of promoting Uppsala Fashion Weekend, which kicks off tonight!

Our mission started at upscale fashion boutique Rådhuset, where we pondered over what kind of clothes and accessories would best suit our models. Luckily, the team at Rådhuset were on board with our plan and with a little help from an enthusiastic sales assistant we were soon walking out with 24,000kr of merchandise.

We had a hit list of key figures who we were certain needed a makeover, but decided to take a detour whenever we spotted another possible target. It turns out there are a lot of statues in Uppsala and by the end of the afternoon we had achieved 10 mini-photoshoots.

Working with such inflexible models posed its own challenges. There was lots of climbing involved, and occasionally balancing precariously from a height – I jumped onto and off of one particular wall more times than I could count. Add in the fact that we were lugging heavy bags all over the city and it ended up being pretty exhausting – although still one of the more fun ways I’ve spent an afternoon in the name of work.

To see the results you’ll need to check out Uppsala City on Instagram where they’ve been releasing one picture per day to get the word out about Uppsala Fashion Weekend. This shot of the statue outside universitetshuset is one of my favourites – not least because I know how much trouble it was to get all those bags in among the flowers!

There’s always something new going on here at Salgado – so who knows what could else be in store next week as I head towards the halfway point of my praktik?

Until next time…

Helen