Bored Panda reached out to Gunnar, who told us more about himself.
“My name is Gunnar, I am a German-Swedish photographer and creator living in Munich, Germany with my 13 year old daughter. Accepting myself as a creative person has been a long and winding road for me. Originally, I wanted to be a management consultant. I studied business administration and found out that this was not my world. I applied to film school and started with photography. At the end of 2006, I published my first post on my street style blog STYLECLICKER. It took me years to gain confidence in my creative work.
Today, I am deeply convinced that Beuys was right: "Everyone is an artist". And I believe that our world would be a much better place if all people unleashed the artist within.”
We were wondering what initially drew Gunnar to the world of photography. He wrote: “After graduating in business, I went to the HFF film school in Munich. And I was lucky to have an amazing teacher in film technology – Prof. Mueller had the gift of explaining the technical side of filmmaking in a very understandable, practical way. Even for non-tech-savvy people like me.
Learning about light and composition was a new world that opened up for me. My good friend Xandi, who wanted to be a photographer at the time, taught me the basics of camera settings. He then gave me a roll of b&w film and an old, heavy SLR camera with a nifty fifty. And I started – that's how my love for photography, especially portraits, began. The astonishing thing: some portraits from that time are still among my favorites after all these years.”
Gunnar shared more about his creative process: “There are two types of photographers: 1. Those who first envision an image in their mind and then execute it. 2. Those who document what they see. I belong to the second group.
I love walking through the world with open eyes and consciously perceiving everything, especially people. You could call me a "professional flaneur". To photograph people for my street style project, I go to places where many people are around. This way, I can meet and scan thousands of people in an afternoon. And some stand out from the crowd. I don't have a specific pattern that I look for. It's more like an instinctive decision. When I see someone like that, I approach them, briefly explain my project, and ask if I can take a photo. Most people are happy and say yes. Since the pandemic, I have started to document the whole process on film, including my approach. The format works very well. It's a combination of video and photos.”
As for the audience’s take away, Gunnar commented: “Every person is beautiful. I truly believe this. I would love to prove it by taking portraits of every single person in the world. Of course, that's not possible. So I had to come up with a selection criterion: people's style.
As a portrait photographer, my main mission is to let people shine. And by doing so, hopefully spread some positive energy in this world. I am very grateful for the beautiful feedback I get from my audience. And it's heartwarming and also a motivation booster when they write that their dream is to cross paths with me one day and have their portrait taken. Another big goal is to inspire people and encourage creativity. I'd like to give people a push to pick up a camera (or a phone) themselves, go out into the street and shoot some portraits of strangers. It makes you happy, I promise. Try it yourself!”
Lastly, Gunnar added: “Thank you for your support. And please remember: Love always wins.”
