Hatje Cantz just published with 'Gimme Shelter' intimate portraits, wide open landscapes and timeless lifestyle photos by Florian Geiss. “Gimme Shelter is a book whose photographs focus on their protagonists’ search for identity and individuality within the iconic, tense context known as the American way of life. With their interplay of light and shadow, and minimal, yet succinct colors, these works of art unite formal elements of cinematic advertising aesthetics with traditional American color photography...” says the publishing company.
The photographer tells GoSee: “GimmeShelter is set at the intersection of photography, film, art and fashion. It is an intensely sensual road trip which provokes yearning and irritation. In our Western civilization, we have achieved every so-called ideal: freedom, democracy, prosperity. The "American Way of Life" dreamed by so many seems fulfilled. And yet I sense great uncertainty and disorientation among the younger generation. Among other things, their constant self-expression is a sign of their search for their own identity and sense of belonging. My photos in the series GimmeShelter are deliberately staged and strike a balance between the outer appearance and the inner world of the protagonists. The glossy appearance of the seemingly flawless surface is irritated by the feeling that the people in my photos are obviously in search of something – of themselves – after an external halt. These photos engage in a dialogue with my landscapes and cityscapes, which radiate a similar yearning aura and which serve as the stage for the life we make for ourselves. GimmeShelter goes – sometimes without saying – as a call for a purpose and security.”
Florian Geiss 'Gimme Shelter', text(s) by Johannes Finke, F. C. Gundlach, Sebastian Lux (128 pages, 83 ills., hardcover, 30.00 x 25.00 cm, ISBN 978-3-7757-4265-8)
Like most of the general public, Florian Geiss is bored when he sees fake looking images in advertising, with unnatural models posing in ways which look over styled and false. His goal on every project is to create believable situations that everyone can relate to. Positive, captured moments where we immediately know that his camera is close in among the action, a part of the energy and the dynamics of the situation. Sometimes his camera is one of a group of friends, sometimes a passer-by, but we can always relate to his point of view. Although Florian’s shots have an integrity that the audience can connect to, his skill is also in the detailed pre-production that he and his team complete. Every detail is considered by Florian... casting, styling, locations, all are brought together according to the requirements of the brief, but at the point of shoot, all these carefully controlled ingredients collide together to create truly special situations full of life and spontaneity.
There is a huge amount of action in Florian’s still work, so it has been a natural progression for him to shoot moving imagery too, often directly alongside his stills work. When creating films, Florian shoots this himself preferring not to delegate any part of the process to other people... photographer, DOP and director simultaneously, and by doing so, he creates a very close link between the style of his stills and moving images. Florian Geiss’ approach continues to be sought out by clients across the globe for many of the World’s biggest international brands. He and his studio are based in Hamburg from where he travels far and wide.