Mikael Jansson: 'Dum Dum Boys'

‘Dum Dum Boys’ is Mikael Jansson’s powerful series of portraits featuring male rock stars with lived-in faces such as Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, David Johansen and Michael Stipe.

For every photographer it must be a delight to have Iggy Pop in front of their lens as he is renowned, like Kate Moss, for having an incredible force of energy, with a willingness to experiment. Pop has built up a reputation for being  photographed in ‘crazy’ scenarios, for example, for the recent Iggy and The Stooges album ‘Ready to Die’ he appeared as a Jihad suicide bomber with explosives tied around his waist.

For this series, Jansson photographed Pop, dynamic in motion, in his trademark, bare-chested, uniform, and wearing a dress carrying a luxury brand snakeskin handbag. Jansson portrayed Michael Stipe, the front man of R.E.M., smearing his face with paint, whilst with Lou Reed, famously a grumpy interviewee, with an uninspired, annoyed look on his face.

Jansson is one of the current, leading fashion photographers working for W Magazine and Vogue Paris. Also, he regularly contributes to Interview Magazine for whom he shoots celebrity cover features and influential actors, musicians and designers.

Viewing his work, one may presume that the photographs were taken by someone from an exotic country. That is not the case, though, as Jansson comes from Sweden, a country for whom its people are usually known for being understated, but Jansson’s style of photography is flambouyant, sultry and extravert.

This extravertism comes to the forefront in the, predominately black and white, series being exhibited in The Ravestijn Gallery. Most of all, Jansson has captured the idea that rock stars live their life to the max. They radiate a ‘Lust for Life’.