What makes Joachim Giesel’s images Images of Gender? At the center of his photographic work stands the human being. And anyone who depicts human beings always also depicts gender. “As a photographer, I am a chronicler of my time, and photography is for me the best medium for introducing people to other people.” This is how Giesel himself describes his task—he documents not only individuals, but society. Against this background, his oeuvre must also be read as an archive of gender images, since his photographs are shaped both by the social norms of their time of origin and by the expectations of his clients as well as his own personal perceptions of gender.
In today’s society, in which the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (Self-Determination Act) enables new forms of gender self-definition, it is important to situate Giesel’s photographs historically. Viewing his work as a whole makes it possible to trace representations of gender both in individual photographs and in their transformation over the course of his career. In this way, one can understand how the photographer has produced and reproduced role models. At the same time, processes of sensitization, questioning, and the deconstruction of stereotypes become visible. As exemplary Images of Gender in Giesel’s work, advertising photographs, photojournalistic works, and independent projects are examined, all of which convey gender-specific content. While in an advertising image for the Deutsche Bundesbahn from the 1970s the sexualization of the model is unmistakable, the documentary photograph of a feminist action can be questioned in terms of the gazes and attitudes of the people depicted. In the publications Photo-Portraits aus Hannover (1990) and 100 Hannoversche Köpfe (2006), Giesel stages public figures both in conventional and non-conforming gender roles. With the documentation of the travesty show Madame Chatou, for example, the photographer demonstrates his interest in breaking down role models. Giesel’s photographs are historical documents that are exemplary of the attitudes of their time, while also reflecting them—today, they allow viewers to continue this reflection. The boundary between neutral depiction of socially prevalent gender images and the affirmative (re)production of sexism is difficult to draw sharply when viewing historical photographs. Today, these images can be viewed critically, as awareness of representation and the social and private significance of gender continues to grow. Giesel’s work as a male photographer in the sexualized advertising landscape of the 1970s and 1980s must therefore be considered differently from his independent works of the same period and his later portraits.
LEA WEIẞ
| Deutsche Bundesbahn, advertising poster “Bahn-Stückgut lässt keine Wünsche offen,” Frankfurt am Main, 1976 (Reproduction, 2024)
| Portrait of Teresa Orlowski (from the series Photo-Portraits aus Hannover), Hannover, 1990 (Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2024)
| Portrait of Markus Gehrlein (from the series 100 Hannoversche Köpfe), Hannover, 2006 (C-print, 2024)
| An der Leine freie Beine, Hannover, 1970 (Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2023)
| Travestie-Show Madame Chatou (from the series Der Mensch in der Gruppe), Hannover, 1978 (Silver gelatin baryta paper, 2023)