To shoot the wonderful Helge Johansson at M+P / Kid of Tomorrow for the second Boys by Girls book  'Closer', Cecilie Harris travelled to the heart of Sweden that is Stockholm. 

Having been inspired by Helge's images around the www and his blog where he pours out his heart with thoughts about the world around him, she felt a need to shoot him. And sometimes one just has to go with the heart. This shooting need resulted in a three day trip to one of Scandinavia's finest cities, and as Helge and his partner looked well after her during her stay, she had plenty of time to get to know this young, inspiring model. His dreams and vision for the future, as well as optimistic views on what the world has to bring, brought her new fate that there are good people around you and that the world often is how you choose to see it.

Extracts from Helge's story "The Boy With A Thousand Dreams":

"Helge is 17 years old and lives in Stockholm. He is a dreamer. Helge has a unique way of seeing the world, and after spending three days with him in Sweden to capture him for “Closer” I came home with a lifted spirit and full of optimism. I had been affected by a boy with a heart of gold." (Cecilie Harris)

"I was born deaf. I didn't hear anything for the first six years of my life. Then they operated on me and I started to hear. The first thing I remember hearing was water pouring in the hospital. Awful! It was all quiet for six years and then like bam! I cried for like a year, as I heard everything! I couldn't focus on what I should listen to as there were so many sounds." (Helge Johansson)
 
A big thank you to Metro Velvet for helping us preview Helge's story. Check out a couple of pages and images from 'Closer' with Helge below, and also a video with extracts from his interview! To get the book in print to have and to hold click here to order it.

Closer to Helge Johansson

13.01.2012