Julia Sellmann Photography

"...fuck the midtones!"

Gerhard Steidl is arguably the world’s best printer of art books. A stranger to all things pompous, he simply calls them "visual books". A visit to Göttingen, where the workaholic plans his own exhibitions.

Gerhard Steidl in Göttingen

"Holger?" No reply. "Holger!!" Still nothing. Then, to those around him: "Is he here?" When Gerhard Steidl has an idea, he calls out. He doesn’t stop what he is doing. He doesn’t look up. Whether he is writing, scribbling, cutting or folding or talking on the phone or rolling up a sheet of paper, he just calls out. "Ah, Holger. Look, we got something from Orhan Pamuk earlier. Probably photographs."

exhibition planning with Jürgen Teller

"What I do is similar to building a sandcastle. Every night, the sea comes and levels it, and the next day you build a new one."

Lufthansa Magazin, № 07 / 2019
Photo Editor: Michael Nielsen
Author: Sebastian Handke