Marcus Wallinder’s more friendly corner of Instagram
Marcus is a Swedish photographer, graphic designer and the creator of @meanwhileinnowhere. His playful and colorful visuals transport you to a different world and perspective with Malmö’s ‘Sankt Knut’ neighborhood — his favorite place to photograph — playing a central role.
You take everyday architectural objects and transform them into beautiful pieces of art. Are they real? How does it work?
I use real photography in my work, then I like to experiment with refinements until I achieve the result I’m looking for. I am retouching, experimenting, nudging, coloring, straightening, adding, removing, iterating and the list goes on!
How did you come up with such a niche idea?
When I first started using Instagram over 13 years ago, I shot close-ups of windows and doors. I was fascinated by the rough and rugged locations of my hometown. As I started experimenting more with different compositions, I got into stitching multiple photos together — creating large size images of houses and even blocks of buildings. Recently, I have enjoyed looking more at shadows and shapes, zooming in on colorful walls with fun looking details.
You create a whole different world.
Secretly, I would like to be a city planner! Through my work I can create whatever I want. I guess I live out my fantasy that way. My fascination with photography is to find the next location to shoot and cross it off my list.
Your pieces are accompanied with witty comments, fun facts, societal stereotypes, problems we face or short riddles. Why is that?
Simply put, I wanted to create some additional value to the image and show more of my personality — where I try to make my little corner of Instagram, a more friendly and welcoming community.
Symmetry or chaos?
I’ve always been a very structured person, coming from a childhood with a lot of chaos I need to stay organized to get things done and I think it shows in my work. That being said, in my opinion, every piece of art needs a flaw or something that throws you off.
Why do we need mystery in our lives?
Mystery is essential for us and I believe it’s important to stay curious about all things in life that are intriguing. Being curious keeps our brains active and on alert for longer. It’s like with any muscle that is becoming stronger through exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind observant and attentive!
Is there a stereotype we could live without?
What about the stereotype that dogs chase cats, but I’ve seen way more clips of (mostly orange) cats harassing innocent dogs to be honest! That being said, I’m on team cat.
If you would have five minutes to teach someone something new, what would it be and why?
I’m not very good at it, but I would like to be more kind to myself. It’s an under-taught and rare skill I would like to learn and if I could, teach others. Life is a playground and we shouldn’t take it so seriously! Play more, work less!
Why "meanwhile in nowhere"?
As time has progressed, I like this name more and more and for me it symbolize how I try to create a world of my own. It’s based in reality but with my twist on it.
You can find selected limited edition prints at www.meanwhileinnowhere.com.
All photos © meanwhileinnowhere