Klaus Gerhart
Encyclopedia
Klaus Gerhart is an American
photographer of the erotic male nude. He is the owner of Pohlmann Press and the owner and curator of the Naked Gallery art gallery.
in 1994. He founded Pohlmann Press that same year, and began publishing the work of photographers of the male nude. Among the works the press carried were his own.
Pohlmann Press quickly became one of the largest American publishers of nude male photography. The company published the work of Lorenzo Gomez, Roy Dean, David Vance, Christopher Makos
, Joe Ziolkowski, John Phillips
, Catherine McIntyre, Nina Glaser, Patrick Sarfati, Dale O'Dell and Chuck Smith, but focused on Gerhart's own work. Pohlmann Press also handled American subscriptions to (not only) blue magazine, an upscale Australian bimonthly magazine of photography which also featured male nudes and semi-nudes.
In 1995, Gerhart created the Naked Gallery—an art gallery but also a publisher of a catalog that specializes in the works of Pohlmann Press, artistic male and female nude imagery, books, calendars, lithographs, and original signed limited edition photographic prints.
But as Pohlmann Press expanded, Klaus Gerhart found less time for photography. Two years passed before Body Conscious (in 2000) was published. Echo followed a year later. Gerhart has not published any works since 2001. Pohlmann Press ceased publishing in 2001 as well.
s (SLRs) and cameras with automatic metering and focusing were uncommon. Consequently, Gerhart's photography exhibits the knowledge and skill levels of a manual photographer with a wide range of experience. His images often feature a wide range of grain
, and he experiments extensively with exposure
and fill light
ing. Depth of field
is an important aspect of his work, and soft focus
is used only minimally. Compared with photographers who are more reliant on modern photographic technology, Gerhart's work exhibits a much wider range of artistry.
Gerhart's personal vision as a photographer, however, tends to be less expansive.
For example, Gerhart's models are rather uniform in look. Gerhart is clearly a fan of muscular, well-toned, handsome Caucasian men. Models of who are not very muscular and very well-toned also very rarely appear in his images. Gerhart goes so far as to regularly work with gay pornographic actors such as Derek Cameron
, Rob Cryston and others with well-built, highly sculpted bodies.
Additionally, Gerhart seems overly fond of desert settings in his work. Gerhart has a fixation with cacti, sandstone rocks, waterfalls, deserts and similar settings. A standard motif which appears routinely and repetitively throughout his entire career is a model, flexing his muscles, standing on a sandstone boulder or rocky outcropping. Derisively known as the 'jocks on rocks' school of erotic male photography, these settings limit the range of emotion brought to the photography by both artist and model. While popular with the public, contexts such as these, repetitively used, detract significantly from the impact of Gerhart's work. In this regard, however, Gerhart is in good company: Highly-regarded photographers such as Herb Ritts
, Tom Bianchi
, Steven Underhill
, Henning von Berg
, Bruce Weber
and others also overutilize such settings.
Despite these criticisms, Klaus Gerhart nevertheless manages to retain an edginess in his artwork. By its very nature, the subject of homosexuality is transgressive
. Klaus Gerhart clearly positions his models as homosexuals (naked, sexual homosexuals at that).
Additionally, Gerhart is willing to confront the sexuality of homosexuality. Gerhart is much more willing to display full-frontal male nudity, even sexual arousal, in his work than peers such as Ritts, Weber or Underhill. This indicates a willingness to challenge social norms and prevailing notions of taste in stronger terms than many of the more tame, if more mainstream, photographers with whom he is often compared.
The overall assessment of Gerhart's work, then, is that it is technically superior. While his work often shows a lack of visual artistry, even a mundaneness, his art retains a transgressive aspect that is refreshing and helps lift his work above the commonplace.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photographer of the erotic male nude. He is the owner of Pohlmann Press and the owner and curator of the Naked Gallery art gallery.
Life
Born Klaus Gerhart Pohlmann in Iowa in 1965, Gerhart grew up there before moving to Chicago in 1992. He built a photography studio there, but moved to Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1994. He founded Pohlmann Press that same year, and began publishing the work of photographers of the male nude. Among the works the press carried were his own.
Pohlmann Press quickly became one of the largest American publishers of nude male photography. The company published the work of Lorenzo Gomez, Roy Dean, David Vance, Christopher Makos
Christopher Makos
Christopher Makos is an American photographer and artist. He apprenticed with photographer Man Ray in Paris and collaborated with Andy Warhol, whom he showed how to use his first camera. He introduced Warhol to the work of both Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring...
, Joe Ziolkowski, John Phillips
John Phillips (photographer)
John Phillips was a photographer for Life magazine from the 1930s to the 1950s who was known for his war photographs....
, Catherine McIntyre, Nina Glaser, Patrick Sarfati, Dale O'Dell and Chuck Smith, but focused on Gerhart's own work. Pohlmann Press also handled American subscriptions to (not only) blue magazine, an upscale Australian bimonthly magazine of photography which also featured male nudes and semi-nudes.
In 1995, Gerhart created the Naked Gallery—an art gallery but also a publisher of a catalog that specializes in the works of Pohlmann Press, artistic male and female nude imagery, books, calendars, lithographs, and original signed limited edition photographic prints.
Art
Between 1995 and 1998, Gerhart published two books: Embracing Men and Men Two. Both books contained about 100 photographs, indicating a very busy photographic schedule. In 1997, Gerhart published Naked Angels. The book was extremely well received, and its cover image of a nude man's back and buttocks as he appears to dive off a rocky cliff became iconic. The following year, the German publisher Bruno Gmuender issued a pocket-sized, hardcover collection of Gerhart's works titled Edition Euros 13. The same year, Gerhart published Handsome Devils.But as Pohlmann Press expanded, Klaus Gerhart found less time for photography. Two years passed before Body Conscious (in 2000) was published. Echo followed a year later. Gerhart has not published any works since 2001. Pohlmann Press ceased publishing in 2001 as well.
Critical assessment
Gerhart is a self-taught photographer. Much of his early development as an artist came during a period when single-lens reflex cameraSingle-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
s (SLRs) and cameras with automatic metering and focusing were uncommon. Consequently, Gerhart's photography exhibits the knowledge and skill levels of a manual photographer with a wide range of experience. His images often feature a wide range of grain
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
, and he experiments extensively with exposure
Exposure (photography)
In photography, exposure is the total amount of light allowed to fall on the photographic medium during the process of taking a photograph. Exposure is measured in lux seconds, and can be computed from exposure value and scene luminance over a specified area.In photographic jargon, an exposure...
and fill light
Fill light
In television, film, stage, or photographic lighting, a fill light may be used to reduce the contrast of a scene and provide some illumination for the areas of the image that are in shadow...
ing. Depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
is an important aspect of his work, and soft focus
Soft focus
In photography, soft focus is a lens flaw, in which the lens forms images that are blurred due to spherical aberration. A soft focus lens deliberately introduces spherical aberration in order to give the appearance of blurring the image while retaining sharp edges; it is not the same as an...
is used only minimally. Compared with photographers who are more reliant on modern photographic technology, Gerhart's work exhibits a much wider range of artistry.
Gerhart's personal vision as a photographer, however, tends to be less expansive.
For example, Gerhart's models are rather uniform in look. Gerhart is clearly a fan of muscular, well-toned, handsome Caucasian men. Models of who are not very muscular and very well-toned also very rarely appear in his images. Gerhart goes so far as to regularly work with gay pornographic actors such as Derek Cameron
Derek Cameron
-Awards and nominations:* 1996 Gay Erotic Video Awards winner of Best Erotic Scene in "Tradewinds".* 1996 GayVN Awards winner of Best Erotic Scene in "Tradewinds"....
, Rob Cryston and others with well-built, highly sculpted bodies.
Additionally, Gerhart seems overly fond of desert settings in his work. Gerhart has a fixation with cacti, sandstone rocks, waterfalls, deserts and similar settings. A standard motif which appears routinely and repetitively throughout his entire career is a model, flexing his muscles, standing on a sandstone boulder or rocky outcropping. Derisively known as the 'jocks on rocks' school of erotic male photography, these settings limit the range of emotion brought to the photography by both artist and model. While popular with the public, contexts such as these, repetitively used, detract significantly from the impact of Gerhart's work. In this regard, however, Gerhart is in good company: Highly-regarded photographers such as Herb Ritts
Herb Ritts
Herbert "Herb" Ritts was an American fashion photographer who concentrated on black-and-white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture.-Early life and career:...
, Tom Bianchi
Tom Bianchi
Tom Bianchi is an American writer and photographer who specializes in male nude photography.-Career:His nineteen books of photographs, poems, and essays primarily cover the gay male experience....
, Steven Underhill
Steven Underhill
Steven Underhill is an American photographer. He grew up in Northern California and graduated from University of California, Los Angeles....
, Henning von Berg
Henning von Berg
Henning von Berg is a former German civil engineer who became a people photographer. His specialty is character portraits and fine art nudes.- Biography :...
, Bruce Weber
Bruce Weber (photographer)
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer and occasional filmmaker. He is most widely known for his ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, as well as his work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone...
and others also overutilize such settings.
Despite these criticisms, Klaus Gerhart nevertheless manages to retain an edginess in his artwork. By its very nature, the subject of homosexuality is transgressive
Transgressive art
Transgressive art refers to art forms that aim to transgress; i.e. to outrage or violate basic mores and sensibilities. The term transgressive was first used by American filmmaker Nick Zedd and his Cinema of Transgression in 1985...
. Klaus Gerhart clearly positions his models as homosexuals (naked, sexual homosexuals at that).
Additionally, Gerhart is willing to confront the sexuality of homosexuality. Gerhart is much more willing to display full-frontal male nudity, even sexual arousal, in his work than peers such as Ritts, Weber or Underhill. This indicates a willingness to challenge social norms and prevailing notions of taste in stronger terms than many of the more tame, if more mainstream, photographers with whom he is often compared.
The overall assessment of Gerhart's work, then, is that it is technically superior. While his work often shows a lack of visual artistry, even a mundaneness, his art retains a transgressive aspect that is refreshing and helps lift his work above the commonplace.
Books by Klaus Gerhart
- Embracing Men, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 1995, ISBN 0-9642009-2-9
- Men Two, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 1995, ISBN 0-9642009-1-0
- Naked Angels, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 1997, ISBN 0-9642009-8-8
- Edition Euros 13, Bruno Gmuender Verlag, Berlin, 1998, ISBN 3-86187-118-1
- Handsome Devils, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 1998, ISBN 1-890377-01-5
- Body Conscious, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 2000, ISBN 1-890377-08-2
- Echo, Pohlmann Press, Los Angeles, 2001, ISBN 1-890377-07-4