What is the Sweden Album?

The Sweden Album is a photo album that my parents, Ann and Wayne Barnette, put together from photographs of their time in Sweden as Vietnam War resisters from 1969-1974.

The album is part of a larger project of self-discovery, including a future trip to Sweden, where I was born, but haven’t returned to since I left over 50 years ago.

When my divorce was final in 2025 and I legally went back to being a Barnette, the question of who I was in the context of my family arose. In desperation, I participated in the new-age practice of Googling that age-old question, who am I?. That’s when I found an article suggesting we instead ask ourselves, “How would I like to experience my life?”.

My perspective then radically shifted. Rather than trying to define a fixed state of my being, I would craft and participate in the flow of my unique life.

The Sweden Album project springs from the pictures and mementos of places and people in the past, but is about making connections on a journey to try to meet as many people in the Sweden Album as I can before my trip in July 2027.