A soft shimmer of color hangs over these photographs. It seems as if the portrayed are moving in a remote dream world that looks strangely similar to ours. This shimmer, characteristic of Neven Allgeier's pictures, recently filled numerous Instagram feeds: On the day his photo book with the laconic title "Portraits" was published, a number of young artists Allgeier photographed posted "their" pictures on the social network. More than 125 artist portraits have been incorporated into the book. They were created between 2018 and 2021 in Berlin and Vienna, in the Rhineland and in Frankfurt, where Allgeier portrayed Olga Cerkasova, Arthur Löwen, Anna Nero and Sonja Yakovleva, among others.
“I see photography as a dialogue,” he says. That's why he took a lot of time for the photo ops. If he has three hours to spare, he prefers to spend most of the time talking to the respective artist and only take photos at the end. "I do 50 percent of this work to generate interesting situations and encounters." The selection of artists, says Allgeier, is linked to him and his social environment. But he also resorted to recommendations not only to portray artist friends. He also emphasizes: All the pictures printed in the book are the same size. It is important to him not to establish a hierarchy.
Allgeier's portrait photographs exude calm without losing tension.
Sometimes the scenes seem casual - the shots are staged: the artists he photographed should name a place to which they have a personal connection.
Some recordings were made in studios.
It is nice when you look at the pictures that you had a good time with the people portrayed, says Allgeier.
He explains the slightly distorted color look typical of his photographs as follows: “I always try to put a more emotional veil over the whole thing.” He also calls this a “slightly surreal aspect”.
A free, subjective approach
The photo book “Portraits” is the result of a collaboration between him, his partner Seda Pesen and the online art magazine “KubaParis”. It started with a series of portraits about Andreas Gursky's students at the Düsseldorf Art Academy. Further stations were added. Most of the recordings were made over the past twelve months, according to Allgeier. He has always found it a shame that his artist portraits, which he created for print and online magazines, were scattered. As a book, they would have been given a form.
When asked whether this is not also a portrait of a generation, Allgeier initially denies it. Rather, the book is a “very subjective excerpt” from the present. Allgeier sees it as a future-oriented document of the times: "It would also be okay if the book had been printed, shrink-wrapped and only opened in 20 years." made it possible "to take a closer look at my own generation". The portrayed artists are a maximum of eight years younger or older than him.
But for Allgeier, born in 1986, the book also reveals a line of development in his previous career as a photographer.
“At first I was very fascinated by the world of magazines and fashion photography,” he says.
He has always worked with a freer, subjective approach.
But his interest in applied photography has steadily decreased over time - in favor of non-commissioned projects.
"Something new on the horizon"
Now the photographer says he doesn't want to rule out applied work in his future.
And yet he would like to continue working with the medium of the book in the future, as he says.
He also wants to pursue the subject of artist portraits, albeit no longer with a monothematic photo book.
In terms of style, Allgeier sees itself facing a change: "I notice that something new is appearing on the horizon."
While walking through Frankfurt's Europaviertel, the skyline with its towers and skyscrapers can be seen on the horizon.
“I like Frankfurt very much,” says Allgeier, who comes from Wiesbaden.
With the exception of Berlin, he could not imagine any other center of life in Germany.
While talking about it, he particularly emphasizes Frankfurt's internationality.
The Main metropolis is a “very colorful, multi-layered place,” he says.
But even more: "We have incredibly good art institutions here and with the Städelschule an incredibly good art college." In addition to these institutions, however, there could be more off-rooms in Frankfurt from his point of view. He thinks that too little is happening in this regard, especially compared to Vienna. In order to recover from the past workload, Neven Allgeier has turned his back on his city for a while. With friends he, who always seems so friendly and tidy, took a month's summer break in Croatia.