To provide you with a better picture of who the people are behind Freunde von Freunden, we want to introduce you to our international team on a regular basis. Some of them have been with us even before the very start of FvF and others joined the crew along the road throughout our captivating global adventures.
Lukas Gansterer is definitely one of our central contacts within FvF’s network in Vienna. Since we introduced the Austrian Capital as one of our cities, Lukas has consistently captured and presented Vienna’s underestimated native creative scene. We met artist Clemens Wolf in his amazing workplace, Musician and infamous Dj Wolfram Eckert and Helga Ruthner, designer for Wendy&Jim, for whom Lukas also took a wide range of collection and collaboration images.
Whether it is a unique interior detail, an obscure snapshot of scenery, a banana or a cigarette, Lukas’ style can be characterized as a little critical and sarcastic while simultaneously overdone and minimal. Lukas has taken photographs for various online and print publications such as Vice Austria, Cover and Dazed Digital. He also manages his visual diary Hustler White. Here you can find a selection of his published and unpublished photographs.
If you are planning your next trip to Vienna, we recommend getting some advice and tips on where to go from the “white hustler” himself.
What’s your favorite daily ritual?
The only daily ritual I have is breakfast and also, at least every second day I walk to the seventh district to bring films to the photo lab for developing. After that I always have lunch at a really nice and small Bioladen. Then I walk home – it’s a 5km walk which I really enjoy.
What do you do when you are not working with FvF?
Working with FvF is only a small part of all the jobs and projects I work on. I also work for several clients, magazines and lots of my own projects. For example I’m working on two different book projects right now. One of them is a book I will be publishing together with Clemens Wolf later this year. The other book will be released at the end of next year and shows portraits of selected Djs and artists, who have played at Grelle Forelle, which is a great club in Vienna. If I’m not working I like to go skateboarding.
Where do you go when you want to relax or get inspired in your city?
There is no special place for me in the city. I really just like walking around. I think this is the time when I’m most relaxed. Believe it or not, the best place and moments I get new ideas is while taking a shower or while skateboarding with my friends.
How has technology influenced you?
When I compare my tech-life nowadays with my childhood-tech-life, the most striking difference is that I am able to be reached at any time. I also check my emails far too often. Sometimes I really hate that.
Best travel memory?
There are so many great travel memories. For example, the road trip I took from LA to Las Vegas, Death Valley, San Francisco in the beginning of 2011. On that trip I was skydiving in the desert of Nevada and also took a helicopter flight to the northern part of the grand canyon. That was really awesome. I enjoy meeting up with all my friends when I travel to Berlin. I especially love hanging out with my friend Constantin, also known as “art brandom” and co-founder of the Unlike city guides at my favorite cafe “La Gloria” in Neukölln. My last skate trip to Barcelona in 2011 was also really amazing.
Who is your favorite skater?
My all time favorites are Arto Saari, Tom Penny, Bastien Salabanzi and Andrew Reynolds. But there are so many young super talented kids coming up every day. Nowadays I am even more motivated by my friends I skate with from passionate skateboarding.
What was the last great meal you ate & where?
Wiener Schnitzel at Plachutta, Vienna. Also the mangold risotto at the Bioladen yesterday was delicious too.
Three websites – more or less – you visit daily ?
Tumblr, some news pages, Highsnobiety, The Berrics, Hellaclips, Facebook, Purple Diary, Dazed Online. There a many websites I visit regularly, but I don’t have the daily web-routine check, except of course checking my emails.
What was your favorite FvF interview so far?
I love the portrait of Marcela Gutirrez and Miquel Polidano from Barcelona. Due to my profession I mostly look at the photographs. The pictures within this portrait are really fantastic.
How would you describe your individual perspective of Vienna to someone who has never been there?
Vienna has a fantastic quality of life. The moments in Vienna I love the most is when I return from traveling. You can go out for parties, relax at home or at some Viennese cafe. It can be a quiet city, but if you know the right people you can have a lot of fun and find action also. As long as you get out of Vienna a minimum 2 times a year, it’s a perfect home base.
If you wouldn’t live in Vienna, where would your ideal home be and why?
I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that yet. Maybe somewhere a bit warmer than Vienna. Definitely a city with no snow in wintertime.
Lukas thanks very much for giving us an insight into your daily routine and lifestyle in Vienna and for being part of our FvF network. If you want to find out more about his work, check out his website.
We are very much looking forward to much more inspirational content from Vienna this year!
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Photography by Christian Rosa