When 28-year-old Robert Carlberg started trying to think of ideas for a spring photography project to complete as a part of the photography school he attends in Sweden, he knew he wanted to choose a project that would enable him to travel and something that would have a connection to his home country of Sweden.
So, Carlberg started doing some research looking for places that might have a connection to Sweden. After searching for a while, he became intrigued by a place called Venersborg that he found was located on the West Coast of the United States – right in the Battle Ground area. Carlberg found it interesting that there was a place in the U.S. with such a similar name to that of Vanersborg in Sweden, so he decided to make a trip over to the Venersborg in North Clark County.
For one month, from the beginning of March to the beginning of April, Carlberg spent time photographing different aspects of the Venersborg area, including the Venersborg Church, the Historic Venersborg Schoolhouse, the cemetery and the people who were out and about in the area. Venersborg was a destination for some of the approximately 200,000 Swedish immigrants who came to the U.S. between 1900 and 1910.
“I found this place (Venersborg) was founded by Swedish immigrants, but it kind of went its own way, went the American way,” Carlberg said. “There are not too many people who still have connections to the first Swedish immigrants, but I have talked with a lot of people who have told me interesting stories.”
Carlberg said he heard a few different stories from family members of early Swedish immigrants, including stories about how some of the immigrants bought land in the Venersborg area before they actually saw it and that many of them moved there in the hopes of finding a better life.
During his brief time in the area, Carlberg worked to get as many photos as possible for his final project. He said one of the things he most enjoyed taking photos of were areas of Venersborg that “looked really Swedish.” He also said he enjoyed taking photos in the rain and the fog.
During his first year of photography school at “Fridhems folkhögskola” in Sweden, Carlberg said he learned mostly about the technical aspects of taking photos. During the second year, students embark on more projects like the one he was doing on Venersborg.
While he was in the area, Carlberg stayed in Portland with different hosts that he found through Couchsurfing.org, a website that offers a way for people who wish to travel find hosts to stay with in more than 100,000 cities all over the world. He’s been to the U.S. a couple of other times and said he really enjoys visiting the country.
“Everyone is always so nice and helpful,” he said.
