DAVID BRANDON GEETING – PHOTOGRAPHER

Contemporary Photographer based in Brooklyn, NY.

David Brandon Geeting presented and spoke about his work on Google Meet, as everyone is currently social distancing. I really like his unique and quirky style of photography.

He mentioned only learning about work that he finds visually interesting, which I can agree with to an extent, but I do believe its important to at least glance at the intentions of the artist to understand and perhaps appreciate the work, rather than dismissing it completely based on its aesthetic appeal.

‘Infinite Power’ was Geeting’s first published photo book. A book of still life photographs composed with stuff Geeting had easy access to; “trash” and “stuff from the dollar store”. His motivation for this series was as a way to exercise his brain to creatively composition regular objects in a cool way.

I like the presentation and design of the photo book, especially printing the title onto the cover plastic, which is something I haven’t seen before and encourages the owner of the book to preserve the book within the plastic as by titling it, it has become a vital part of the book.

Brandon Geeting likes to compose most of his shots in camera, with little to no post-production, unless it is an intended part of the work. A signature style of his work is to take a photograph, print it, then photograph it again within another shot. He does this for both personal and commissioned work.

‘South Korea Nature Photography’ – admittedly this photo book interested me less than Geeting’s other work. I appreciate the creative thought gone into framing the shots using what was readily available in South Korea, and I do like the images, they just didn’t hold my attention as much as his other work he presented to the group.

Geeting favours using speed lights snd Nikon DSLRs.

‘Amusement Park’ is a photo book intended as a series of “strange”, “off kilter” images with “precarious compositions”. I like the playfulness of these photographs and the nostalgic aesthetic paired with the retrospective gaze that sees the garish instead of the wonder that appealed to us as kids.

David Geeting jokingly encouraged us to go out with fabric as he did and use it in outdoor environments as he did with playground equipment. I do particularly like his photographs with fabric on playground equipment; they are very odd due to the opposite colours and textures associated with the rich quality fabric and the blunt boldness of the plastic and metal playground frames. I also find them claustrophobic because children’s climbing frames are usually outside in the open. The slide covered with golden shiny fabric looks as if its about to burst as its bulging through the gap, which makes me feel anxious looking at it.

I honestly hate the image that has been put together in post-production, with the pixelated random edges, the green-screen green, the harshness of the photograph of the boy in Spiderman face paint, the glitchy-ness of the entire image. Although the style and imagery used does evoke unwanted nostalgia, probably the tackiness and poor digital design I associate with growing up in the early 2000s. I can appreciate the strong reaction Geeting evoked from me with this image, but visually speaking I despise it.

David Geeting explained how the meaning of a photograph shifts with how you look at it, and how you sequence it (in a book or in a gallery). This changes how the story shown is perceived whether it is true, untrue or purely aesthetic.

Geeting uses local printing shop to publish his own photo books for about $10 per copy.
He is inspired by the mundane and ordinary as it is all he knew growing up (Pennsylvania)
Geeting advised that clients hire you based on your style. They see that photographing things in your style is what you are best at.