Andreas Schmidt’s vibrant photographs of Las Vegas’ high-rise landscape show an alternative view of the famous gambling city. In the accompanying essay to Schmidt’s photo book ‘Las Vegas’, Christoph Ribbat writes: “In Schmidt’s pictures, Las Vegas seems really familiar yet at the same time really alien”.
Read more ...
He suggests that the reason for this is because Schmidt stops in places others may pass by at a fast and frantic pace, whether it’s in a hotel lobby, in a car park or out on the street underneath the “artificial skies”, pondering the moment. The result is a collection of works that show the city’s effervescent light and architecture without the tackiness that is normally associated with Vegas. Spaces are empty, everything is crisp, clean and enhanced - the city that never sleeps is always illuminated. German-born Schmidt’s work has been exhibited and published internationally. His commercial work has appeared in the Telegraph Magazine, Frame, The Guardian Weekend, Illustrated London News, Orange Magazine, Blueprint, FX, Time Out, Elle, Tatler, Elle Deco, Hot Air (Virgin), Design Week, IWC Watch Magazine and Wallpaper. In 2005, renowned German fine art and photography book publisher Hatje Cantz published his first hard-back monograph entitled “Las Vegas” to international critical acclaim. Described by J. G. Ballard as “the poet of the hotel corridor”, his new book, ‘The City’, is due to be published by Hatje Cantz in summer 2009 and will present a photographic over-view of the architecture of London’s financial centre as never seen before. Schmidt currently lives and works in London. .