Stephan Geyer (UAE)
Stephan Geyer was born in Barcelona in 1981, but immigrated to Latin America with his family at an early age and grew up living in 3 continents. Stephan began photographing at a very young age with a Minolta film camera his father gave him. Largely self-taught, his photos display a fascination with candid urban life, explored alleys, slums, markets and streets in a constant attempt to truly discover and acquaint himself with what he describes as "real culture".
Stephan is also a high-altitude alpinism climbing peaks nearing the 7000 meters above sea level, where he explores the limits of his own fears and resilience, and at the same time discovers parts of the world that are hidden from the average traveller. In his expeditions, Stephan captures life on the edge and how it contrasts with the life of those that were born at altitude.
His work is characterised by a vivid physical sensibility. Typically, Stephan seeks the gloomier parts of cities usually hidden from sight by the glittering artificial world, and his perception is often portrayed with the help of contrast and juxtaposition. Photographically, he is more interested in reality than fiction, observation than direction.
Being an avid alpinist, as well as photographer, means that I was in a great pickle until the X-Pro1 was released. I wanted the best possible image quality as the places I climb to, are once in a lifetime experience – I cannot miss a shot – but carrying a large DSLR with 2-3 lenses (5kg) was not possible when your entire pack during an expedition weighs a maximum of 17kg!
My X-Pro1, alongside my trusty 18 and 35mm lenses allows me to capture true experiences at high altitude with the highest possible quality.
Besides the fantastic weight-quality ratio, the X-Pro1 got me excited about photography again, and particularly allowed me to rekindle my love for street photography by letting me blend into the environment I am in and not call attention to myself.
