Andreas Gefeller

Gefeller's images intrigue me. The systematic nature of his work, the commitment to an idea- it's pretty amazing. The floor plan images are so submersive, transporting; the perspective feels like such a gift- to float silently, just above the ground, from room to room, seeing all, examining all, but disturbing nothing.

My reaction is how I imagine a ghost to feel, hovering along, spending time to be absorbed by the surroundings, yet being completely apart from them. Immersive.

It's this combination of systematic and other-worldliness sympathy that I wish to emulate. I would like to have viewers fall into the work, get lost inside for a while... picking through things, having things pick through them.

Artist Biography
By rigging his camera from a height of 6-7 feet and at a 90-degree angle to a surface, he photographs every inch of his chosen environment. He then transforms all the images into a grid, which are stitched together digitally to form the final photograph. Although the details are familiar (lottery tickets scattered over cobblestone streets, baby chickens on a farm, newspapers on the stairs), his technique flattens spaces that are normally 3-dimensional and makes them look foreign.
- Cool Hunting

Working in a digital format, Gefeller painstakingly photographs a large surface inch by inch, then assembles those dozens or even hundreds of images into a large-scale composite (without otherwise doctoring them). The method is not unlike that used to compile the streetscapes on GoogleEarth; as a viewer, you want to both appreciate them for their comprehensiveness and to zoom in on the intricate details they capture.
- ArtInfo

As time and duration interplay with his meticulous imaging of reality, Gefeller creates a new mode of representation. Thus, residing in a place between fact and fantasy, Gefeller simultaneously documents and invents the worlds around him.
- Neiman Storyboard

“Absolutely nothing happens in Gefeller’s pictures, according to the classical criteria of narratology, yet they defy inclusion in the traditional canon of photographic documentation.”
- Gerhard Gluher, “Andreas Gefeller: SOMA”, Hatje Cantz Publishers 2003, 3775712534

“And then you can spend absolutely ages examining the details and you'll always discover something new.”
- Andreas Gefeller, Interview on Euromaxx, Deutsche Welle, 3./5. Dezember 2004 [translated from German]

Watch him do his thing-


Interview with the artist - Conscientious Extended

Gallery representing artist - Hasted Hunt Kraeulter

Artist Website