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    Now reading: my crew: from url to irl, jonno revanche’s friends are a new generation of thinkers, dreamers and lovers

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    my crew: from url to irl, jonno revanche’s friends are a new generation of thinkers, dreamers and lovers

    In this series, i-D invites our favourite photographers to shoot the people who inspire them. Today Jonno Revanche introduces us to their favourites, and reminds us of the value of making friends online.

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    Alice Lukehurst

    How do you know Jonno? Jonno and I matched on Tinder about a year and a half ago…but I’d known of them long before that.

    How would you describe your relationship? They motivate me to be the person I want to be.

    What does friendship mean to you? I’m not sure what friendship is at the moment – I’m still working that one out.

    What was the highlight of your 2016? Getting published on Refigural and one of the many conversations I had with my friend Hari (Nef)….there were mostly disagreements but I still learn a lot from her.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017? The end of the world as we know it….and for it to no longer be 2016.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? World peace!

    Somayra Ismailjee

    How do you know Jonno? We first ‘met’ via the internet through each other’s work, then at the National Young Writers’ Festival this year in Newcastle.

    What do you call each other? I call them Jonno and they call me Som, though they did once refer to me as their ‘tiny daughter’ once which was the cutest.

    How would you describe your relationship? Mutual appreciation and adoration.

    What does friendship mean to you? A space of love, forgiveness, compromise; stability in some ways, and the safety to be destabilised in others.

    What’s the perfect song for you and your best friend to dance to? Anything by Lorde, the unofficial teen queen of our generation.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017? More of the same: making connections, finding spaces of warmth and generosity, embracing change.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? It’s a struggle to refrain from writing something long and political here, so I’ll just say a world without injustice.

    Tabitha Prado

    How do you know Jonno? I knew of them for a lil while from friends and online spaces — then I saw them for the first time from afar in Newtown and thought, ‘wow, doe eyes!’ Months later we hung out for the first time and it was very immediate and comfortable.

    What do you call each other? Most people call me Tab, Jonno calls me Tab but sometimes Tibi and Tabi which makes me feel warm. I don’t use nicknames often.

    How would you describe your relationship? Open, constructive, like we’re putting resources together to work out answers to questions together, serious and lighthearted at the same time. I scream so much with Jonno always, they bring my cheekiness out.

    What does friendship mean to you? Friendship is chosen love. It is investing time and energy into someone else’s freedom. You can be friends with family members and partners too.

    Who would you like to be friends with? Anyone I could learn from, which is… a lot of people. I’d like to be friends with more people outside my age group, and outside my ways of thinking.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017? Continuing.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? World peace, and reparations for the oppressed, via the total destruction of anti-blackness, settler colonialism, and white supremacist, cis-heteropatriarchal capitalism.

    Winnie Dunn

    How do you know Jonno? I met Jonno at an outdoor poetry reading under a big fig tree through a friend. It was nice to meet someone who felt like they came from a similar suburban upbringing as I do (I’m from Mount Druitt) in that kinda weird cityscape. I feel like Jonno fits in both scapes, which is something I really admire.

    How would you describe your relationship? Once in twelve blue moons but good vibes always.

    What does friendship mean to you? I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot. Friendship means a great deal to me but sometimes I just get too lethargic to care about seeing my friends very often. Being Tongan, your family doubles as your friends usually, so sometimes I get too comfortable in that. I’m very lucky I have surrounded myself with friends who understand my useless reply skills.

    What’s the perfect song for you and your best friend to dance to? The end credit song after Mulan. What a jam.

    Who would you like to be friends with? A Tongan-NZ poet named Karlo Mila.

    What was the highlight of your 2016? I guess when I became the manager of the Western Sydney Writing Collective Sweatshop and when I got a new dog! His name is Diego.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? That we could have our first Indigenous Prime Minister who’d save all of Australia like a comic book hero.

    Susie Anderson

    How do you know Jonno? We met through Twitter I think. Something in their Tweets convinced me we were on the same existential wavelength and so we decided to meet up.

    What does friendship mean to you? It’s everything. I’ve been feeling really lonely lately, far away from family and other important friends. In Sydney over the past two years I’ve made close friends with not a large volume of people but people who have become incredibly important to me. This is a big, harrowing city that just takes and takes. People can help you make it through that shit.

    What was the highlight of your 2016? Cycling solo around San Francisco one afternoon in June.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? My wishes are all too sad or big… so I use this to wish that every time you got a brownie it would be the perfect brownie.

    Danielle Karlikoff

    How do you know Jonno? We met on top of the Eiffel Tower. Jonno asked if I had a tissue.

    How would you describe your relationship? Light Blue.

    What does friendship mean to you? What water means to humans.

    What’s the perfect song for you and your best friend to dance to? Rachmaninoff’s Prelude 0p.3 No.2 in C-sharp minor always goes off.

    Who would you like to be friends with? Tom Ford.

    If you could go anywhere in the world right now and could only bring one friend, who would it be? To the supermarket with Kimchi Princi.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017? Being a woman.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? Wishing is for dreamers!

    Ellen O’Brien

    How do you know Jonno? We were internet friends who sparked an IRL connection that changed my life.

    How would you describe your relationship? It’s so hard to synthesise all of its fragments into one line but if I had to: a sustaining force in a world that can feel uncaring; a lot of belly laughs and hyperbole and intimate discussions.

    What does friendship mean to you? Friendship is nurturing, transformative, world-altering. My friendships have taught me that loving without fear and jealousy is difficult, and takes a lot of unlearning, but is ultimately possible. When I talk to my friends I’m reminded of our capacity to be good to each other, and of the necessity to hold each other accountable and reflect on our behaviour when someone has fucked up.

    Who would you like to be friends with? Anyone questioning the world and its structures, and making moves to alter them with compassion, humility and self-reflexive honesty.

    If you could go anywhere in the world right now and could only bring one friend, who would it be? I actually would really like to go sit and read in a park with any of my friends so I can finally finish the novel I’m reading.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017? Being a lot more at peace with all the facets of myself, keeping some plants alive for a whole year, sleeping eight hours a night.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? Real acknowledgment across the country that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty has never been ceded; and for all teenage girls and femmes to be safe, happy and fulfilled.

    Ashleigh D’antonio and Mia Van Den Bos (Sister gallery)

    How do you know Jonno?
    Mia: We met through my friend Travis in 2012 I think.Ash: We met through Mia I guess probably 4 or 5 years ago? They just photographed my wedding for me.

    How would you describe your relationship?
    M: We live in different states now but we still chat almost daily, Jonno comes here fairly regularly and I like to take little holidays to visit them in Sydney. We’ve both watched each other grow creatively and as people and even though we can sometimes bicker like siblings we always have each other’s back.

    What does friendship mean to you?
    A: I’m a pretty solitary person, but having close friendships with select people is a necessity in keeping me sane.

    What was the highlight of your 2016?
    M: Finishing Honours!!
    A: Defs planning to open Sister with Mia! It’s been a wild ride… I accomplished some great shows earlier in the year that I’ve been really proud of. Oh and getting married was pretty bonza.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017?
    M: Opening Sister Gallery in Bowden Adelaide. The gallery is Ash and I’s baby and I’m so excited about the artists we’re getting on board to exhibit with us.

    A: Opening Sister, putting on some bangin’ shows and finally finishing Honours after the shit storm that’s been the end of 2k16.

    Shareeka Helaluddin

    How do you know Jonno? Retweeting and adoration of their work eventually blossomed into IRL friendship (retweeting and adoration is still consistent).

    What do you call each other? A search through our messages and ‘angel’ comes up a lot.

    How would you describe your relationship? Special, sincere, mindful, generous.

    What was the highlight of your 2016? Going to live overseas with no real safety net and no friends, but coming back having met so many amazing, powerful people and having a strong sense of community both overseas and here in Sydney.

    If you had one wish, what would it be? For all the people I care about to be safe, happy and healthy. I’m actually a sentimental cliche (Pisces moon).

    Jenna, Stef and Jemma (All Gold Everything)

    How do you know Jonno?
    Jemma: Through the Internet and seeing bands years ago.
    Jenna: We somehow connected over our love for Australia’s second finest export after Kylie Minogue, Jessica Hilda Mauboy.
    Stef: Jonno saw me pash two guys at a gig and came up to me and told me they followed me on Twitter and were “impressed”.

    How would you describe your relationship?
    Jemma: Great, supportive friends who go off in the group chat.
    Jenna: Sassy and glam!
    Stef: Full of fun! And spicy discourse.

    What do you and your friends do together?
    Jemma: Eat!!!!!!!
    Jenna: Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat.
    Stef: Share screenshots. Nah, we eat out a lot and roast each other real good.

    Who would you like to be friends with?
    Jemma: Every female DJ in Australia tbqh.
    Jenna: Rihanna.
    Stef: I already have the best friends I could ask for.

    What was the highlight of your 2016?
    Jemma: I finally got a job I love. But my main highlight every year is getting to run a club night with my friends for our friends. I love this life.
    Jenna: Entering my late 20s in style and achieving personal goals I set for myself.
    Stef: Becoming a teacher and teaching the coolest, most thoughtful and hilarious kids in the world.

    What are you looking forward to in 2017?
    Jemma: Finally having enough $ to travel and go interstate more.
    Jenna: My…wedding!
    Stef: Season 3 of Mr Robot.

    Credits


    Photography Jonno Revanche

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