Words: Robin Pailler | Photos: Tina Willem
Tina Willim is a photographer, art director and graphic designer based in Berlin. She’s also just a really nice human being -her instagram caption reads ‘Be excellent to each other’.
Born and raised in Lindau, a small German town on Lake Constance. Yet despite the beautiful landscapes on offer growing up surrounded by the mountains of Austria and Switzerland, she began to; in her own words – “take weird pictures of trash and things I found on the street”, after being given her first point and shoot at aged 11.
Since then she’s developed a habit of chronic wanderlust. “I’m a curious person, I find the unknown very inspiring. The most photogenic place so far was definitely Los Angeles and surroundings – the light is so different there – so pretty. But the most inspiring place for me is NYC. It’s energizing and magical at the same time. I also love to wander the streets in my hometown, Berlin. You come across so many curiosities and it feels like you’ll never discover every part of it. Which is somehow comforting. I want to be aware of the beauty in all the weirdness surrounding us.”.
I can’t be entirely sure how I first came across Tina’s work. Most likely through a Berlin connection I think. Soon after I remember seeing a bunch of her work blow up on the gram. In particular the trips she did with Girls Are Awesome and Adidas Originals, the first to Zurich & Austria before then exploring Tel Aviv.
Most recently she photographed a Cleptomanicx campaign in Los Angeles with fellow Deutsche photographer Henrik Biemer. After finally meeting Tina in person in Berlin two weeks ago, I couldn’t help but ask if she had any leftovers/b-roll from the trip she’d be willing to share. Turns out she did and she’d made a zine from it but was undecided whether to go ahead and print. “It’s meant to be part of the series; ‘enter subtitle here’. It’s an observation and documentation of my travels to the West coast of the US”.
A week later a wetransfer folder dropped in our inbox with permission to do as we please.
So here we are. Sometimes all you need to do is ask.
