Alexander Schmitt:
creating tactile photographs of men who are mystical but somehow approachable

By DREW Rowsome
15 Jun 2018

DigitalDesignTeam's Alexander Schmitt has photographed every Christopher Street Day celebration/demonstration in Stuttgart for 14 years. Christopher Street Day is the German and Swiss equivalent of a Pride parade, which qualifies Schmitt specifically for MGT's Pride issue. He also produces stunning images of male beauty which qualifies him at any time.

"It makes me proud that so many people contribute and work together for our cause," says Schmitt about Pride/Christopher Street Day. "We have already achieved a lot, but there is so much more to achieve. We should each fight and get involved whether artistically, politically or even in a very different way. It is important that we do it together and worldwide."

Schmitt says that, "Even as a child  I would go alone with the camera and take nature shots. That continued and so I became a photographer. I started with analog photography. It fascinated me to work in the darkroom and how a photo emerges on the white paper after being exposed. At that time I began to photograph and develop film myself. After that I went to the darkroom and made the paper prints from it. Of course, it is much easier now with digital photography. But you still have to have an artistic vein so that the viewer is attracted by the photo. A model still has to look mystical but somehow approachable."

In 2003 he and his partner formed the company DigitalDesignTeam and they, as well as documenting the Stuttgart gay scene, create striking commercial photography. As enticing as that work is, it is Schmitt's photographs of men that have brought him renown. "I try to do a lot of freelance work to differentiate myself from the business shoots," he says. "That way I can live my own creativity." That creativity is startlingly tactile, not only the defined abs and biceps, but also the delicate whorls or bristles of hair, and the light within a model's eyes. "The image editing is another part after the shooting. Above all, I work with microcontrasts, which dissolve the skin plasticly, almost three-dimensionally. This has the effect that one can almost touch the models."

The results certainly do beg to be touched. "I try to give the models a personal touch," says Schmitt of the broad range of masculine ideals he uses. "Giving each model the same treatment each time would be pretty boring. The different facets are exciting and fascinate again and again. I give the viewer an insight into a model that has never been seen before. That's what makes a photo eye-catching." And a basic criteria, "The physical conditions must fit, that means absolute fitness and a trendy appearance."

While capturing live action is a welcome challenge, "I prefer to work in the studio," says Schmitt. "There I have more time and can implement my creativity better. Sometimes, when traveling in other countries, I do not have a studio where I can take pictures. Then I look for places in nature that are interesting enough for a shoot. Of course, the visual language is very different from photos taken in the studio. I usually work only with the existing natural light without flashes. But I love to work more in the studio." With one caveat, "Distant places on my travels have the charm of the never before seen and they do inspire me."

Schmitt looks for models who "Are confident of themselves and are not afraid to cross boundaries." He cites the work of Henning von Berg as an inspiration. That made Logan McCree a natural fit for a series of portraits showcasing the soul of the man behind the tattooed flesh. "Porn models are naturally very well trained and have a good body sense," says Schmitt. "Of course, they also have little fear of getting naked in front of the camera."

Schmitt creates photos that are erotic but not gratuitous. He explains it as, "Nudes are ok if done tastefully." The abundant male nudity in Schmitt's photographs may be explicit but it is never prurient. "The portrayal of naked people is always a balancing act between the erotic, art and porn. I like it when the physical proportions of a model are expressive, that includes the penis in a man. That is then a tasteful presentation to the viewer."

Working with nudity, "Requires a lot of tact and years of work with models. I create a quiet and pleasant atmosphere. We discuss exactly what we want to shoot beforehand. The model can concentrate on the shoot without being distracted by anything. I give some instructions to the poses, the rest is the personality of the model. I try to elicit the personality of the model and then capture in a photo."

Schmitt believes that male beauty includes penises, but that progressive attitude may reflect his European sensibility more than the mainstream. He sends a copy of a photo that he is particularly proud of and laments, "My favourite photo but I can´t publish it on Instagram, Model Mayhem or Facebook. Anywhere." The photo in question is the torso of a man, his hands cupping and covering his testicles, while a semi-erect penis arches floppily across his stomach. 

It is an extraordinarily brazen and vulnerable photo. The cropping is tight and classical while the light gives incredible definition and detail to every hair, vein, and fold of skin. It is erotic, whimsical and matter of fact. Definitely art and not porn.

Many of Schmitt's photos are of masculine ideals, muscle and testosterone, with only the eyes revealing the depths within the trappings. But he also has a sense of humour. A series of photographs chronicle a cowboy's ascent from macho bravado to the sheer joy to be found in soap bubbles. "That was an extraordinary shoot," says Schmitt. "I had a saddle but no horse. I was inspired by a western movie where the cowboys shoot with revolvers," but the logistics of a real horse and a revolver led to the solution of bubbles and a playful eroticism.

"I experiment with water from time to time," says Schmitt also referencing his, also whimsical, "Water Wig" photos. "It is very expensive and makes a huge mess in the studio because I have to protect my equipment. Maybe I'll do a 'making of' video sometime." Schmitt does have an ambitious fantasy photo shoot in mind, that also has a certain whimsy. "I would like to recreate 'The Last Supper' by the Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, I've never had that many nude models at one time in one place at the same time."

Christopher Street Day number 15 is fast approaching and Schmitt will tear himself away from his studio to capture the excitement of the festivities and activism. He sees similarities between the two photographic styles, "It is about the same if you have a drag queen or a fitness model in front of the camera," he says. "Every situation is unique and always new." But of course he has to point out that, "The fitness model needs a completely different illumination than the drag queen."