Who are we?
We Are Freckled is owned and operated by Jonas Carmhagen the founder and creator of We Are Freckled.
The first thing that hit me when I walked into his studio ’Little Paris’ and met with Jonas Carmhagen, was the feeling of tranquillity. Ease. The second thing was unmistakable and irrepressible passion for photography and for people. It is my full conviction that these core elements are what constitutes this book, and also what distinguishes Jonas as a photographer.
In his teens, Jonas found photography to be the perfect way for him to channel his creativity. Determined to become a professional photographer he attended Gamleby School of Photography, and is now an established Stockholm based full time photographer. With great experience from the fashion and commercial industry, his unique style – characterised by soothe elegance and purity – reflects his portrait photography and always leaves the observer with a feeling of peace.
In a proper sense, the idea of this book was born in 2013, but the process behind it started many years before that. As the only one on his fathers side of the family without freckles, Jonas has given the (absence of) fascinating little brown spots a great deal of thought and attention throughout his life.
Besides, not only is the mere existence of freckles an enchanting story: the myths, explanatory factors – biological as well as environmental – and aesthetics. But most of all, it is without a doubt the people behind the freckles that makes this phenomenon a lovely feature worth exploring again and again.
Now, how does one create something new and different based on this natural phenomenon, still keeping a classic and pure tone? In nothing but sheer daylight, our freckled contributors have been photographed for this book. You will find the mother, daughter, model, waitress, father, son, lawyer, student, brother, sister, CEO, pensioner, businessman, cousin, grandparent and many others.
Never before has an art project encompassed such a concentrated yet playful insight into the freckled people among us. Many of them grew up hating their freckles, but later come to love them. I want to tell everyone – freckled or not – that you are beautiful precisely the way you are created, and not to bother spending time thinking otherwise. Jonas’ photos proves that simplicity and masterpieces as well as perfection and imperfection not by necessity are opposites of each other.
