Freunde von Freunden takes a snoop round Berlin-based fashion photographer Jonas Lindstroem's pad

As per, Freunde von Freunden has tracked down a beautiful person making beautiful work in a beautiful space. This time it’s the turn of Berlin-based fashion photographer Jonas Lindström, who manages to turn commercial work into a veritable playground of experimentation.

Jonas grew up in south-west Germany, and throughout his career has drawn inspiration from skate culture and minimalist aesthetics. “Back in the early 2000s skateboarding culture wasn’t about this nostalgic, grungy style,” he told FvF’s Jennifer-Naomi Hofmann. “It had a more modern appeal, a very fresh approach. They were into typography and their language was quite clean. That’s what I liked – it wasn’t only about photography. We were taking pictures, putting them in magazines and making films. That’s essentially how I work today. I’m not only a photographer but also a filmmaker, and I’m very much into the intersection of those disciplines. That evolved naturally from the skateboarding thing – everyone was doing everything.”

Moving into the fashion world, this ability to work across the creative disciplines has served him well. Despite the commercial value of his work, he’s stuck to his guns in the pursuit of an image that’s not only right for the project, but carries integrity and creativity. “If you show your work to a commercial audience too early, you are pinned to it. It’s much harder to fight for your right to do what you really want to do, because they will push you around,” he says. “But if you develop your work to a certain extent, and only then get into these publishing relationships, it’s on eye level.

“I like seeing real life turn into something else in a split second. It’s this human being in front of me, a particular environment, and I’m elevating that so it becomes something else – a shape or an expression or a form. In fashion you take these inspirations and put them in a different context. That’s how it becomes relevant. It’s not so much about the clothes anymore. Rather, it’s an expression or an image or a pose that is very relevant to fashion at the moment.”