Hanover, early summer 1961. Twenty-year-old Joachim Giesel, who has recently passed his journeyman’s examination as a photographer, is sitting in an office at the Hannoversche Presse. A few months earlier, the newspaper had established a photo editorial department, to which Giesel had successfully applied on the recommendation of journalist Hans Rohrberg. This first permanent position meant not only a young photographer and family man. His entry into press photography also marks the beginning of a decades-long, successful, and varied career as a photojournalist. What Giesel immediately experiences after starting his job on June 1 is the pressure to perform, which is due in no small part to his still limited professional experience. But with his unconventional, fresh style of photography, he dispels any preconceptions about his young age and quickly makes a name for himself among his experienced colleagues. To set himself apart from the competition, Giesel follows the motto “Everything different from everyone else,” which he still describes as the guiding principle of his work today. He is often the first to arrive at the newsroom and the last to leave. If he needs to ring a stranger’s doorbell to get the best view of an event from their apartment, he doesn’t hesitate. He sees himself first and foremost as an observer. “I don’t want to intervene; I observe and let things happen,” he says, describing his approach to press photography. He doesn’t judge the quality of a photograph according to the classic evaluation scheme of “good” or “bad.” For him, there is only the “right” or the “wrong” image. What matters is that it is authentic and achieves the intended effect. Soon, in addition to smaller assignments, he is assigned three to four photo reports per week. The range of subjects is as broad as the newspaper’s profile and takes him to a wide variety of places: from reports on local fire department operations or a camp for protestant girl scouts to internationally significant events such as the Lengede mining disaster or the transfer of Benno Ohnesorg’s remains from the GDR to the Federal Republic. His skills are also highly valued by his employer. For example, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Hanover, he was specially recalled from a training course in Hamburg to document the major event. Giesel worked as an employee for the Hannoversche Presse for five years before embarking on a new chapter in his career by going independent in 1966. As a freelance photographer, however, he remained true to the field of photojournalism and continued to work freelance for the press, including major publications such as stern and DER SPIEGEL.
JONATHAN FULDA
| Rescue of a miner following the mining accident in Lengede, Lengede, November 7, 1963.
(Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2024)
| State visit by Queen Elizabeth II, Hanover, May 27, 1965.
(Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2024)
| Strike at Hanomag, Hanover, May 17, 1967.
(Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2024)
| Transfer of the body of Benno Ohnesorg, Helmstedt, June 8, 1967.
(Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2024)
