Interview in uncube magazine
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| From "assemble" |
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| From "assemble" |
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| From "Skies of Concrete" |
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| From "Skies of Concrete" |
Geisela Erlach is a Viennese architecture photographer who, according to an interview in uncube magazine, tends "to seek out the wild, the unplanned, and the accidental in the more or less consciously designed urban environment - and the absurd potential within such situations." Ms. Erlach studied psychology before earning a degree in cinematography from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She has been a freelance photographer since 1992, and her work has been featured in shows as well as in museums, galleries, and private collections. She uses both a digital medium-format and film 4x5" camera for her work.
Her best-known work is her 2015 series, "Skies of Concrete," which has been published as a book (you can read a blurb about it here). She began the series in 2011 after noticing a house crammed between supports of a bridge spanning the Danube. She proceeded to travel to countries around the world, exploring similarities and differences in how people in different countries and types of landscapes used these "non-spaces," while cars and pedestrians passed unseen overhead, disconnected from what was happening on the ground below. I find these images very compelling, both for their formal qualities of line and shape, but also because of the strange juxtapositions between the massive, almost superhuman concrete structures and the smaller, human-scaled objects found beneath them. I love finding these kinds of juxtapositions myself, although I usually look for clashes between natural and anthropogenic objects and settings.
I included the images from her series "assemble" because I think they also exemplify her interest in the "accidental" and "absurd" within designed environments. What could be more absurd than a giraffe standing casually in front of skyscrapers under construction in the first photograph, and what could be a happier accident than the contrast between the intimacy of the clothing on the lines and the massive structures behind them in the second? Contrast, accident, and juxtaposition make me really happy, and I'm so glad I found Ms. Erlach!
I also used an architectural photographer this week! How bizarre.
ReplyDeleteThese are very interesting images. I have always been drawn to the shapes of the concrete overpass structures. I like how she acknowledges the concrete structures as a landscape. I think it is important for all people to realize that with the global population growing every day that these settings will only become more common.
"Skies of Concrete" makes me feel SO uncomfortable. The though of kids playing on a playground right under highway ramps is so bizzare! But I love it. Her architectural photography seems like she finds the most random scenes and chooses to photograph them. Making them even that much more interesting. The first image from "assemble" compositionally is very intriguing. Anything with animals in it I am immediately drawn to. Also keeping in mind that I find it so random that a giraffe would be in that location but the area she is from it might not be. Keeping time, place, and perspective in mind is very important.
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