Close-up of aspirations and lenses by photographer Arnt Eriksen.

Good morning Britalians TV viewers!

Today we’re starting off with a bang! Marco arrives with a roll of toilet paper and sunglasses. He’s not happy with how the toilet went and has been crying so much that he has to wear sunglasses to hide these marks. Who knows if he wore them because he was dazzled by Erica’s beauty and skill?

To literally celebrate our guest, the usual song of choice is Celebrate! by the American music group Kool & the Gang. And so “Let’s celebrate / Celebrate good times, come on / Let’s celebrate / There’s a party going on right here / A celebration to last throughout the years / So bring your good times and your laughter too /We gon’ celebrate your party with you, come on now”.

And this time we are celebrating the party with you and with him, the photographer and creative Arnt Eriksen!

Originally from Norway, he now lives in Sweden. He is growing a beard to give himself the Viking look typical of these countries, and unlike what you might expect, he doesn’t prefer to drink as much beer as we usually think, but rather wine.

He came back a month and a half after he had already been interviewed by our two children.

At that time he was hungry, cooked risotto, a lot of pasta and was doing his own thing.

Now he has many projects, he is writing a book (not about quarantine Marco!) about branding and marketing. If you want to like Marco to ask him for special advice, buy his book, he doesn’t come clean!

A book not, as Marco says, of 10-12 pages but much more substantial, even 280!

So Erica is already booked to study it and summarize it to Marco.

Arnt decided to write this book in order to collect the experience accumulated in 25 years in advertising and marketing. And here he has included positive experiences, more unpleasant situations, and collected it all together.

The best thing he thinks he has done in 25 years in this field is to have helped his clients earn money. And that made him happy. Marco would also like to be one of his clients.

Marco: “Is there any change in your relationship situation since the last time?”

Arnt has had more dates in this period also because the lockdown in Sweden is not too limiting.

In the past few days, Arnt has been taking pictures, in particular of Miss Sweden from 2017 and also Miss Multiverse 2019.

Marco’s questions are always extravagant, but in particular, something is asked that underneath makes sense (almost) all the time. The Misses, explains Arnt, are not, as Marco says, PCs that you buy and after a few months are already old, but they can have careers of up to ten years, from 19 to 28-30 years.

Marco too, you wouldn’t think, but he was once Mister Harmony, and he says he is the king of kinky books, so much so that he won over a fan, Erica, who had read the book and asked for his autograph. She was 9 years old, it was illegal!

Arnt explains that taking pictures of Misses is a bit more complicated than taking pictures of models. Models know how to stand in front of the camera. So they know different positions, the best sides and so on. For the Misses it’s the first time, so you have to build trust with them and explain how to pose. Better in a soft way anyway and not like a Nazi, Marco!

Then before each set of photos, we talk to each other and see what kind of style, what kind of outfit to adopt. Ranging from wearing all the clothes first and then slowly taking them off. Then trying to find the best angles and look as good as possible.

As for where to take the photographs, Arnt tries to have rooms with large windows so that plenty of natural light enters. Then he has a setup of lights that he can use to create the illusion of daylight if he needs to. Although he tends not to use too many, it gets complicated. He prefers the feeling of the shot to the lights!

Then Arnt also works outdoors and here he adapts to the environment in which he has to take his photographs. So he tries to avoid bright light because of the sharp shadows it causes, which are not attractive. And he prefers shady places with the help of reflectors or white walls that reflect the light and black walls that do not. So it is more about planning how the environment plays for daylight. Photography is about interpreting light basically.

Marco was a bit taken aback because with all these walls he feels like he’s in a maze so if you have any questions and want to know about this please contact Arnt, otherwise, you could act as psychological support for a kid in trouble!

Erica: “Why did you start being a photographer?”

Arnt started working with advertising, which focused on visual communication. Photography was part of his upbringing, so he learned the basics of how to use the photographic tool and the environments to take the shots, as well as how to develop the photographs himself in the darkroom. Very tangible projects that he loves.

And which he no longer does because of computers and digital, but which he would use again because he saw them as a revival of his passion for photography.

It’s a bit like Marco says, like making coffee with Moka and not with a coffee machine. Or as Arnt recalls, growing your own beans or having your own wine barrel to tap from.

Marco: “Have you ever dreamed of being of the opposite sex for a couple of days?”

Arnt is not shocked by such strange questions and yes, he would like to be, especially to go and try to understand what it means to be of the opposite sex.

Arnt doesn’t sing, doesn’t dance, and if he had an extra four hours one day do you know what he would do?

He’d be with a beautiful woman, his camera, a good Italian dish, and a good old mature Barolo.

Arnt has a secret diary in which every day, in the morning after a quick cardio workout and coffee, he writes on the balcony of his home. And every day he writes down three things he is grateful for, three things he will do during the day and what his goal is.

And it gives us great inspiration! Take your time, start by enjoying your day!

Marco would also like to write a thought journal! Or rather, have it written by Erica!

For example, today Arnt is grateful, apart from participating in our show as Marco suggests, for the camera because it allows him to create art; for his eye for detail; and for having the ability by talking to people to find new ideas, and thus to have the spark always leading him to do different things. Talking to others, therefore, inspires Arnt, who knows how many ideas he will get from a deep conversation like this!

Besides writing his own diary and a marketing book, Arnt reads books mainly in this field but also about photography, such as Leica myself, a book with many selfies and photographic ideas.

At a certain point, we don’t know what happened but Marco for the first time maybe after many episodes asks a technical marketing question. So, dear viewer, if you want to tell your children, relatives and friends in the future that you witnessed this historic event, don’t miss it.

Is it better to focus 80 per cent on the quality of the product to be sold, and then 20 per cent on marketing it, or the other way around?

It basically depends on the product, then like with our show Marco would be in doubt about what to do.

Marco: “Where do you think you will be in 5 years?” A classic job interview question.

Arnt thinks he’ll be travelling a lot more than he is now, but then again, nowadays it would be enough for him to just go for a walk to travel more. And he expects to live in a big city like London or another one.

In London he would then find our scrambled egg expert Marco who has his own way of cracking them, you can imagine how he breaks them; strange that he didn’t mention that the dish he likes best is the typical Italian pasticcio, but we forgive him this time; and instead the sublime Erica is ready to cook him his favourite Italian food.

And then he hopes to become a better-known photographer. But of this we have no doubt, we agree with Marco and Erica: he has the basics, he is aware of his marketing and quality, he is good and as a photographer, he has something that makes you want to see him again, a technique all his own; and finally he is a lovely person with whom working together is a pleasure and this is very important.

Arnt chooses London and not other cities because he feels the need to live in a city big enough for him. His hometown is so small that he doesn’t want to go back there but wants to keep going. “You cannot change the past, only you can change the future.”

So as soon as he is able to travel again he will shape his plans and try to achieve his goals (who knows maybe even new photographic ones!).

Fantastic interview! Hi Arnt!

And we hope to have him here in person soon, as our two super interviewers Erica and Marco suggest, maybe live in Piccadilly Circus!

In the meantime, if you have any questions for this hopefully future occasion don’t hesitate, even dirty questions, we’ll blame Marco anyway! Ciao bello, ciao bella! See you next time!