Interview Jonas Justen
Photography means both facing and escaping reality.
Name: Jonas Justen
Hometown: Blankenrath, a small village in Germany
Style of photography: landscape, documentary, but still in progress, so it is hard to describe a certain style.
Type of camera(s): 6×7 Mamiya and Fuji, a few 35mm cameras
Website: No website yet, only Flickr.
What gives you inspiration?
The environment of my home village, the woods and abandoned spaces, a special light that appears, meeting interesting people and also amazing trips I go on with friends. Also paintings by Edward Hopper and films by Terrence Malick, Wim Wenders and Lars von Trier bring new ideas to my mind, too.
What are your influences?
Wow, hard to name a few, there are too many amazing photographers out there. I guess everything around us exerts influence on us, even if we don’t become aware of it. Besides the flood of good photographs on the internet I love getting my hands on photobooks. A while ago I got myself a book called „The City. Becoming and Decaying“ by a german photographer’s agency, which is an amazing piece of art and which had a deep impact on my mind.
Why did you choose these photos?
These are simply the ones I like the most, from different projects and journeys.
What does photography mean to you?
For me photography means both facing and escaping reality. My photographs capture one moment of life, no matter if it is a happy, ordinary or sad one. Through photography I have a way to stand on the outside, to be an observer, who comments on the things that happen around me. Also I am pretty good at forgetting everything, so photographs help me to remember things that I would forget about without having my camera with me. I am currently trying to find out where photography leads me.
Photos:
Copyright reserved by Jonas Justen.
