Gulliver Theis
Galerie Kleefeld
Stresemannstr. 110
22769 Hamburg
+49 171 9327591
Syndication: www.laif.de
Ust-ID: DE 194918243
My main interests are portrait photography and culinary arts. In travel reportage, everything I love comes together. It’s the perfect blend of people, their stories, and the fascinating world of gastronomy.
I have always been interested in people in their environments. However, during my first decade as a professional photographer, I focused more on the technical intricacies of advertising photography. At that time, digital photography wasn’t as convincing, so I primarily worked with medium and large format cameras. In recent years, my approach has shifted to become warmer, more documentary in style, and technically simpler.
The older I get, the more I prefer to travel light. Complicated equipment doesn’t necessarily lead to better photos. Still, I enjoy the challenge of pushing the boundaries of what’s technically possible from time to time.
Through photography, I express how I see the world. It’s my universal language.
I’m fascinated by unfamiliar worlds, which don’t necessarily have to be on the other side of the globe, although I certainly enjoy exploring those as well.
At the age of 14, I inherited a Kodak Retina III from my grandfather. It sat unused for a year, but then I discovered within a few weeks that it would change my life. I began participating in youth photography competitions, winning several, including three times at the German Youth Photography Competition.
After completing my community service, I knew I wanted to pursue something creative, but I wasn’t fully confident in my photography hobby. A foundational year at the School of Design in Basel steered me towards communication design, which I later studied at HAW in Hamburg. After my interim exams, I spent two semesters at the International Center of Photography in New York, where I finally committed myself to photography.
From 2000 to 2012, I was represented by Susanne Bransch and primarily worked as an advertising photographer during that time.
My work can be described as the pursuit of extracting aesthetics and beauty from real chaos, while remaining credible and objective. I also enjoy contributing my ideas and insights to projects.
What I love about photography is that even after capturing a million images, I always start anew. What isn’t sorted, considered, and felt in that split second won’t come together as a cohesive whole. In that sense, it remains an engaging and truly fulfilling task.
