André Gelpke
Salambo, Hamburg
Salambo, Hamburg, 1976
Aus Sex-Theater
Gelatin-silver print, 22 x 32.7 cm
Collection Fotomuseum Winterthur
2009-004-052
b. 1947 (Beienrode, DE), lives and works in Zurich, CH
Back when he was studying photography under Otto Steinert at the Folkwang School in Essen, André Gelpke had already begun training his camera on subcultures and lifestyle choices outside mainstream society. It was in this context too that he embarked on his photobook Sex-Theater, which came out in 1981. Realised in Hamburg sex clubs like the Pulverfass over a period of several years, this long-term project offers a glimpse of St Pauli nightlife during the 1970s. Gelpke not only photographed what was happening on stage but also focused on the audience’s voyeuristic gaze in the repeated pictures he took of the punters visiting the clubs. However, his work is primarily concerned with the performers, whom the photographer captured in a series of expressive portraits. In 1975 Gelpke teamed up with Gerd Ludwig and Rudi Meisel, who had been fellow students of his, to launch the photo agency Visum, which he left after four years to devote all his attention to his artistic work. Gelpke has lived in Switzerland since 1990, where he was a professor at the ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts until 2012.