Per Zennström

Photographer & Filmmaker 

With over 2 decades of experience in the creative field, his versatile talents as a Visual Storyteller often sees him donning the hats of photographer, filmmaker, online publisher and digital marketer, in and out of his role as Creative Director.

A native of Stockholm, his work has taken him all over the world, where he’s worked with some of the biggest brands of our time, including Dior, Guy Laroche, Nina Ricci, Absolut Vodka, Porsche and Bentley, to name a few. He’s lived and worked in the visionary hubs of Paris, New York and Berlin ﹘ adding to his internationally diverse portfolio every step of the way.

Per’s attraction to entrepreneurial creativity and new media keeps him busy with an assortment of projects, including: 

• Founder of theLAB-berlin ﹘ an artist collective that works with clients to deliver digital storytelling solutions

• Publisher and Creative Director of 11horses ﹘ an online pop culture magazine

• Contributing Editor to urban culture platforms such as MG magazine and Cool Shaker

Currently based in Berlin, he thrives on the unique, cosmopolitan and decidedly urban atmosphere the city offers in abundance. Per is highly sought after as a vibrant and enthusiastic speaker and educator by top schools such as Fotoskolan STHLM & Berliner Teknische Kunsthochschule.

For a snapshot of Per’s creative process behind the scenes:

Absolut Vodka

Shot in the middle of the pitch black Niger night in the sprawling Sahara Desert with no electricity whatsoever, this was Per’s most challenging photo shoot technically and logistically. Armed with only a few battery-powered flashlights, Per worked the magic together with his creative team. The ad concept was based on African folktales, drawing inspiration from stories of magic, witches and enchanted creatures roaming the night. They spent many hours looking for Absolut visual elements (the shape of the bottle, the ice-cold blue colour) in the grass, clouds, sand and anything else they could lay their eyes on.

Bentley Fragrance

In order to interpret the heritage and core values of this luxury brand in a modern way while staying true to its origins, Per’s solution was to focus on the origin and location of the brand. Incorporating subtle but distinctive elements of London and the city’s role in the image, he gave it the right presence and weight without overpowering the overall look and feel. The brief included very specific requirements for the lighting, including “the blue hour”. It had to look like the sun had just dipped beneath the horizon, with the scene still illuminated by the light summer night sky and golden sunset clouds.

leica

engaged to conceptualise and manage the multi-media extravaganza hosted by leica at the berlin fashion week in july 2011, per took on the roles of creative director, photographer, director, pr & marketing person, all rolled into one. he saw the project as an opportunity to transform an otherwise single dimension event into a multi-faceted avenue, enabling him to tell the story using different voices. he wanted to do more than just hang a beautiful picture on the wall. so he took it to a whole new level.
teaming up with celebrated fashion designer michael sontag, per orchestrated the event as three distinct parts interconnected by the simple but innovative use of qr codes. a life-size print of natasia koechy wearing an elegant green dress by sontag on the wall revealed a qr code on her leg, linked to an online video. natasia also stood next to her picture in real life with a faux tattoo of the same qr code, which viewers scanned to watch the same video. as a result, people were interacting with both the print and model, scanning, watching and sharing the video the entire time.

i speak: Swedish, French, German and English.