Interview with Jonas Byström - Photography as a vehicle for messages
For this latest edition of the Interview, Art Work Circle spoke to Swedish photographer Jonas Byström, to coincide with the launch of his new work, the series, Architectural art, Vivid water, promising paths, basic bales, floral flair, graphical greys, magic metal, stacked stones and colour codes.
Briefly introduce yourself:
I'm a Swedish photographer and freelance photo book editor based in Luxembourg since 2007. In the past, I've lived in Japan, on the island of Borneo, and worked in many countries, maybe 50 in total. All these trips have given me many opportunities to photograph different things and environments.
When and how did you come into contact with art?
Quite early on I saw photographs in magazines and galleries that showed that this medium offered possibilities for artistic expression as well as aesthetic expression. This combination is at the heart of my photographic work.
Tell us about your artistic approach:
My photographic journey began in the early 1980s when I received my first camera as a school-leaving present.
In the mid-1990s, I already had a large collection of photographs and I started working with the Swedish photographic agency Bazaar. The development of digital cameras opened up new possibilities. I continued to photograph, the collection grew and I began to think that I needed to find a way of sharing all these photos with other photography enthusiasts.
In 2017 I launched the company Fine Photo Art (fipha) to have the opportunity to share this large photo collection. Since then I have published five photographic books, three on Luxembourg subjects and two with photographs taken in Japan. I have also published six 'Quotes & Images' booklets for smartphones with quotes on subjects that I find increasingly important in our society. I've tried to combine them with photographs to enhance the message and I've formatted them so that they can be consulted on smartphones.
These booklets can be downloaded free of charge from my website www.fipha.lu
Where do you find your inspiration?
In the world around us, which I try to document by attempting to reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary and the beauty in the transitory and imperfect (wabi sabi in Japanese) and the passage of time (shibui in Japanese).
I try to find objects and environments that are photogenic in some way, with an eye for wabi sabi and shibui. In Asia or Eastern Europe, where I've worked, the cities and buildings are imperfect but when you look at them a bit more, there's a lot to discover and photograph. My photographs of Hashima Island in the book Gunkanjima Ghosts are a good example of shibui expression.
NB: Hashima Island, located off the coast of Nagasaki, was home to a mine and a complete town that was abandoned in the 1970s. The town's buildings still stand, but nature is reclaiming its rights, giving a very special atmosphere to the island, which is well known for its spectacular urban environment.
What messages/emotions do you want to convey through your work?
I try to inspire people to see the world through different eyes. With the "Quotes and Images" booklets for smartphones, I use images to reinforce the message I want to convey through quotes on subjects that are crucial for us and our planet, such as climate change, the need for peace, the loss of biodiversity, the lack of kindness and benevolence in our society, the lack of truth in communication. As you can see from the titles of my photos or my books, I'm a fan of alliteration and I try to use alliteration as a way of improving communication.
Do you have a creative memory you'd like to share?
I was born in the far north of Sweden, north of the Arctic Circle, with very long, very cold winters, so snow is part of my DNA. When I arrived in Luxembourg I started taking photographs of Luxembourg City under the snow, because I find the city even more beautiful that way and because I realised that with global warming this view was going to become increasingly rare. In 2019 I created a book called "Winter White" with around a hundred photos of the snow-covered capital of Luxembourg. My website fipha.lu presents all my books, including this one and the books I have published.
If you had to choose ONE work of art that you're most proud of, why?
It's this first "Winter White" book considering all the work I put into making it. From the layout to the discussions with the printers and booksellers, it was a very interesting and educational experience, and I think that's why I'm proud of it.
What are your future projects?
I'm currently working on a book with forty-seven photographs of interesting facades taken in seven different countries. Each of them tells a story in some way. It's a work that I've yet to finalise, but this sixth book is the next project to be completed.
What was the first thing you did this morning? As the years add up quickly, I said thank you for yet another day.
What is the subject of your work in a nutshell? I try to find patterns and interesting things in the surroundings, so maybe that's a good way of summing up my work, surroundings.
You'd never leave home without... One of my cameras
Your happy place : In front of my computer with new photographs to select and edit, offering the pure joy of creation.
Your guilty pleasure : I love dark chocolate, preferably Ghanaian cocoa.
Your favourite word : Kindness. I think that's lacking in our society, where selfishness and greed reign supreme.
What is your dream project? The five photographic books I've published are all dream projects, and the next one will be too, because of the work and dedication needed to bring it to fruition. It represents a lot of work, creativity, energy and time, but they are also dreams to be realised.
Photo credits: Jonas Byström