Hans Gissinger Biography
"The voracious photography of Hans Gissinger"
Hans Gissinger was born in Switzerland in 1946 and raised in Zurich. After studying engineering, he turned to photography. He began his career as a reporter and head of the photography and film department for Pro Helvetia, an agency that promotes cultural exchange. At the age of 30, Gissinger shifted his focus to advertising photography. First based in Europe, then, after 1994, in New York, Gissinger now lives in Miami.
Gissinger's days are absorbed by his work, and his photographic research reflects a global approach. There is no difference between his artistic exploration and his advertising work. The images he produces for large-scale publicity campaigns for companies such as the jeweler Cartier or the watchmaker Ebel continue the esthetic exploration of the photographer's artistic approach and are clearly marked by his obsessions. Gissinger's images are harsh because he is passionate about the grotesque, about real characters; his protagonists are made up like actors from the Commedia dell'arte.
This violence and scorn for the subject is balanced by Gissinger's perfect mastery of the image. Indeed, he is obsessed with photographic perfection. The violence of his subjects is impeccably depicted; no detail is left untouched. His images, which are of the highest plastic quality, are almost idealized. To practice such an esthetic approach and reflection in advertising is a veritable artistic and critical happening. The archetypal advertising image is mild and seductive. The goal of such automatic images is to make one's mouth water. They are images made to induce consumption. Gissinger's work lies within the problematic of taste and image and of the appetite and repulsion that these images engender, which explains the strong link between advertising work and artistic research. Hans Gissinger explores the alimentary field of the image.
In 1997, Gissinger undertook what was to become a four-year project with chef Marc Meneau, resulting in the book The Conversation (published in the USA in 2001). The work contains more than 600 black-and-white photographs of food that explore the cultural universe of food production. Gluttony is explored from within the logic of predation and consumption. Cuisine is as much an art of devastation as it is of creation.
In 2002, Gissinger published Salami with writer Gérard Oberlé, "homme de lettres et de fourchette." Building on texts written by Oberlé, Gissinger created 60 portraits of Italian sausages.
Both books were painstakingly printed on Gissinger's own printing press by the publishing company that he created expressly to produce these two works.
In 2003, Gissinger began a third project with New York chef Frank De Carlo. This time, the theme is savagery. The research for the book will also take place outside of the kitchen, at different sites around the globe, through encounters with different peoples of the world.
Gilles Stassart
Journalist and critic for Beaux-Arts magazine
Translated by April Julich
For more info on Hans Gissinger visit: hansgissinger.com
