After several years in advertising and assisting photographers in Hamburg & Berlin and travelling with Viva con Agua de Sankt Pauli, John has been working full-time as a photographer since 2011, initially with a focus on fashion and advertising. In 2015, he started focusing on food photography under the stage name Jean Graisse (aka Johann Fett, John Grease, João Gordo).

Even as a fashion photographer, he was looking for the real moments in which the essence of a person reveals itself – more than in the perfect folds of a dress. A good picture to him is always the one that shows an authentic expression: not staged, but focused on the essentials and rather in color than black and white.

His starting point is a natural interest in people and their worlds. Building a relationship with his protagonists is the prerequisite for his pictures with a clear, harmonious message. He is inspired by representatives of the New American Color Photography movement such as Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Joel Meyerowitz and Bruce Davidson.

John lives with his wife and their two sons Jules & Jimi. He likes kale, parmesan, and sourdough bread and has never turned down a dessert. If he’s not in Berlin, you’ll probably find him in Portugal, eating Pastel de Nata or Açorda Alentejana.

(Lorraine Haist, food journalist)

Clients:

SALON
B-EAT
Die Zeit
Effilee
Friends of Friends (FvF)
Nobelhart & Schmutzig 
Viva con Agua 
Das Magazin (SUI)
Merkur (A)
REWE
Weber
Ballarini
McCafé
Zalando
Kantine Zukunft 
BMAS
Unilever