Beyond The Crane caught up with photographer Jonas Dahlström for a sit-down chat about his work process, being in the moment and his new, very personal, project that involves his father who first exposed him to cameras and photography. Dahlström is based in Malmö and his first book 07:27:47 won numerous awards.
JD: I make a living as a salesperson in the steel industry and take photographs in my spare time. I have never taken photographs commercially and have no interest in doing so. I enjoy having photography as my own “room” where I can do what I want.
BTC: Tell us about your book…
JD: About 1.5 years ago, my first photo book “07:27:47” was published at Kerber Verlag in Germany. It consists of a series of street photos where I wanted to emphasise the graphic and minimalist aesthetics that can arise in the interplay between light and shadows, people and architecture. At the same time, it is a story about the relationship between the individual and the urban landscape – about the anonymity and loneliness that I think most people can sometimes feel in relation to their surroundings.
BTC: How did you get started?
JD: I have been taking pictures since I was five years old and sometimes hung out with my father in the darkroom. It started to get a little more serious when I studied in Russia at the end of the 90s. For the first time, I then felt the need to document and tell something about what I saw around me. I started the book project much later, in connection with a workshop at Nordens Fotoskola. During an exercise, I got the idea for this project and then I worked on it for four years.
From Jonas photo book “07:27:47”
From Jonas photo book “07:27:47”
BTC: Why do you do what you do?
JD: Because it gives me purpose and meaning in life. I think it is an existential need, to leave some kind of imprint on posterity. In addition, I am always more present and observant of my surroundings when I have a camera with me. It helps me see things that I would otherwise have missed.
BTC: What does your work process usually look like?
JD: My previous project was very structured. As I knew what I was looking for, I often prepared by searching for places on Google street view. By checking the direction of light in an app, I was also able to predict what time I should be in these places. Before trips to another location, I used to make a strict schedule with exact times and places for the photography. But in the end, of course, the result was determined by chance. Sometimes I had to go home again because the sun went behind the clouds or because a parked car was in the way.
BTC: What are you working on now?
JD: Now I have instead started a completely different project which will be about the relationship between myself and my father who is suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. He took a lot of pictures of me when I was little and now I’m the one taking pictures of him instead, with the same old camera. In this way, photography becomes both a common point of reference and a tool to process my own anxiety about ageing and ending up in the same situation.
BTC: And the work process changes with each project…
JD: In my new project, I work more with writing down different image ideas as I come up with them and then I try to check them off if the right conditions present themselves. Working with sequencing the images is also an interesting part of the process, especially if you want to make a book. Regardless of what type of project you are working on, I think it is good to think in advance about what kind of pictures you need to take so that they fit in and add something of value to a larger whole. And when you manage to capture what you were looking for and wanted to express, you become happy, quite simply!
BTC: Do you show your projects/images to someone else for thoughts and input along the way? If so, who? How does it happen?
JD: I always show all the pictures to my partner and she often makes valuable comments. Then I also have some photographer friends with whom I like to exchange thoughts and ideas. But since everyone who looks at a picture reads it in their own way, based on their own experiences, I think it is good to limit yourself to a few people who are sincere and in whom you feel trust – otherwise there is a risk of getting into so many different points of view and interpretations that you become even more confused than you otherwise would have been. Regardless, you ultimately have to trust your own judgment and create images that feel relevant and important to you.
BTC: How do you avoid getting too comfortable in your photography?
JD: I think one of the most enjoyable things about photography is the opportunity to experience, explore and try to reproduce the impressions of hitherto unfamiliar situations, meetings and places, regardless of whether these are in the physical space or inside yourself. Patience, persistence and commitment are important. Photography is rarely comfortable. However, I think it is good to be as comfortable as possible with your camera – it should not be a technical obstacle but an extension of your eyes.
BTC: How do you know when a work/project is finished?
JD: I think you notice when you’re done. It is true that you can always add and improve and develop your project, but when you start to feel that you will not get much further without repeating yourself – when your enthusiasm subsides and the natural creative flow of ideas and motives begins to dry up – then you are probably “done”, at least for the time being.
BTC: How do you get YOU into what you do?
JD: When you take pictures, you have an external reality in front of you. But every person also has an inner reality, which will shape how you depict the outer reality in different ways. What you choose to depict and how you do it is very subjective, and in this way you always carry a part of your personality with you in what you do. Taking pictures can be a way to get to know yourself.
BTC: Is it important to you that it is clear that Jonas took the picture?
JD: No, I probably wouldn’t say that. I have no need to create a brand. I think you should be very consistent within a project, but beyond that I appreciate the freedom to also dare to try something different sometimes. In my current project, for example, I use a completely different visual language than in my previous one, because I think the story requires it. Regardless, the most important thing is always that you are passionate about what you are doing, otherwise there will not be a good result in the end.
From Jonas upcoming project “I’ll remember you”
BTC: What were the biggest lessons you’ve learned now that you’ve published your first book? Was there anything that surprised you in that process?
JD: I knew absolutely nothing about book production, printing technology, duplex curves, etc… It was a completely new world for me and something completely different from photography. But I still had to learn a little on my own to be able to answer the publisher’s questions about how I wanted it. Then it was a relief to be able to state that the outcome was actually as expected when the books were ready.
BTC: What inspires you?
JD: Other photographers and artists, but above all everyday life that just goes on. There is so much to see!
BTC: What is it like to be a creative type in Malmö?
JD: I feel that there is a creative environment and many creative people in Malmö. But as a photographer, you are usually something of a loner who looks at everything with a certain distance…
BTC: What is your favourite place in Malmö and why?
JD: I was born in St. Knut’s Square and lived there until I was nine. When I then moved back to the area thirty years later, it felt like coming home again…I enjoy sitting in the shade of the trees in the square in the summer or watching the peaceful flow of people along Mäster Henriksgatan. I feel like I’m connected to these neighbourhoods in some way. S:t Pauli Mellersta cemetery eventually becomes my final destination.
BTC: Going forward, what are your plans for the future?
JD: Hopefully there will be another book in a year or so. That’s my goal anyway.
BTC: Why do you still do what you do?
JD: Because it’s fun to take pictures. And addictive too. I hope I never get tired of it because then I wouldn’t know what to do instead.
LEARN MORE
You can follow Jonas’s latest work on Instagram at @joda317
Beyond The Crane caught up with photographer Jonas Dahlström for a sit-down chat about his work process, being in the moment and his new, very personal, project that involves his father who first exposed him to cameras and photography. Dahlström is based in Malmö and his first book 07:27:47 won numerous awards.
Cover portrait: Christian Skog
BTC: Beyond The Crane: JD: Jonas Dahlström
BTC: What is it that you do?
JD: I make a living as a salesperson in the steel industry and take photographs in my spare time. I have never taken photographs commercially and have no interest in doing so. I enjoy having photography as my own “room” where I can do what I want.
BTC: Tell us about your book…
JD: About 1.5 years ago, my first photo book “07:27:47” was published at Kerber Verlag in Germany. It consists of a series of street photos where I wanted to emphasise the graphic and minimalist aesthetics that can arise in the interplay between light and shadows, people and architecture. At the same time, it is a story about the relationship between the individual and the urban landscape – about the anonymity and loneliness that I think most people can sometimes feel in relation to their surroundings.
BTC: How did you get started?
JD: I have been taking pictures since I was five years old and sometimes hung out with my father in the darkroom. It started to get a little more serious when I studied in Russia at the end of the 90s. For the first time, I then felt the need to document and tell something about what I saw around me. I started the book project much later, in connection with a workshop at Nordens Fotoskola. During an exercise, I got the idea for this project and then I worked on it for four years.
BTC: Why do you do what you do?
JD: Because it gives me purpose and meaning in life. I think it is an existential need, to leave some kind of imprint on posterity. In addition, I am always more present and observant of my surroundings when I have a camera with me. It helps me see things that I would otherwise have missed.
BTC: What does your work process usually look like?
JD: My previous project was very structured. As I knew what I was looking for, I often prepared by searching for places on Google street view. By checking the direction of light in an app, I was also able to predict what time I should be in these places. Before trips to another location, I used to make a strict schedule with exact times and places for the photography. But in the end, of course, the result was determined by chance. Sometimes I had to go home again because the sun went behind the clouds or because a parked car was in the way.
BTC: What are you working on now?
JD: Now I have instead started a completely different project which will be about the relationship between myself and my father who is suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s. He took a lot of pictures of me when I was little and now I’m the one taking pictures of him instead, with the same old camera. In this way, photography becomes both a common point of reference and a tool to process my own anxiety about ageing and ending up in the same situation.
BTC: And the work process changes with each project…
JD: In my new project, I work more with writing down different image ideas as I come up with them and then I try to check them off if the right conditions present themselves. Working with sequencing the images is also an interesting part of the process, especially if you want to make a book. Regardless of what type of project you are working on, I think it is good to think in advance about what kind of pictures you need to take so that they fit in and add something of value to a larger whole. And when you manage to capture what you were looking for and wanted to express, you become happy, quite simply!
BTC: Do you show your projects/images to someone else for thoughts and input along the way? If so, who? How does it happen?
JD: I always show all the pictures to my partner and she often makes valuable comments. Then I also have some photographer friends with whom I like to exchange thoughts and ideas. But since everyone who looks at a picture reads it in their own way, based on their own experiences, I think it is good to limit yourself to a few people who are sincere and in whom you feel trust – otherwise there is a risk of getting into so many different points of view and interpretations that you become even more confused than you otherwise would have been. Regardless, you ultimately have to trust your own judgment and create images that feel relevant and important to you.
BTC: How do you avoid getting too comfortable in your photography?
JD: I think one of the most enjoyable things about photography is the opportunity to experience, explore and try to reproduce the impressions of hitherto unfamiliar situations, meetings and places, regardless of whether these are in the physical space or inside yourself. Patience, persistence and commitment are important. Photography is rarely comfortable. However, I think it is good to be as comfortable as possible with your camera – it should not be a technical obstacle but an extension of your eyes.
BTC: How do you know when a work/project is finished?
JD: I think you notice when you’re done. It is true that you can always add and improve and develop your project, but when you start to feel that you will not get much further without repeating yourself – when your enthusiasm subsides and the natural creative flow of ideas and motives begins to dry up – then you are probably “done”, at least for the time being.
BTC: How do you get YOU into what you do?
JD: When you take pictures, you have an external reality in front of you. But every person also has an inner reality, which will shape how you depict the outer reality in different ways. What you choose to depict and how you do it is very subjective, and in this way you always carry a part of your personality with you in what you do. Taking pictures can be a way to get to know yourself.
BTC: Is it important to you that it is clear that Jonas took the picture?
JD: No, I probably wouldn’t say that. I have no need to create a brand. I think you should be very consistent within a project, but beyond that I appreciate the freedom to also dare to try something different sometimes. In my current project, for example, I use a completely different visual language than in my previous one, because I think the story requires it. Regardless, the most important thing is always that you are passionate about what you are doing, otherwise there will not be a good result in the end.
BTC: What were the biggest lessons you’ve learned now that you’ve published your first book? Was there anything that surprised you in that process?
JD: I knew absolutely nothing about book production, printing technology, duplex curves, etc… It was a completely new world for me and something completely different from photography. But I still had to learn a little on my own to be able to answer the publisher’s questions about how I wanted it. Then it was a relief to be able to state that the outcome was actually as expected when the books were ready.
BTC: What inspires you?
JD: Other photographers and artists, but above all everyday life that just goes on. There is so much to see!
BTC: What is it like to be a creative type in Malmö?
JD: I feel that there is a creative environment and many creative people in Malmö. But as a photographer, you are usually something of a loner who looks at everything with a certain distance…
BTC: What is your favourite place in Malmö and why?
JD: I was born in St. Knut’s Square and lived there until I was nine. When I then moved back to the area thirty years later, it felt like coming home again…I enjoy sitting in the shade of the trees in the square in the summer or watching the peaceful flow of people along Mäster Henriksgatan. I feel like I’m connected to these neighbourhoods in some way. S:t Pauli Mellersta cemetery eventually becomes my final destination.
BTC: Going forward, what are your plans for the future?
JD: Hopefully there will be another book in a year or so. That’s my goal anyway.
BTC: Why do you still do what you do?
JD: Because it’s fun to take pictures. And addictive too. I hope I never get tired of it because then I wouldn’t know what to do instead.
LEARN MORE
You can follow Jonas’s latest work on Instagram at @joda317
Also, check out his website for more info: https://dahlstroem.weebly.com