Documenting America's young, lost and hiding

Documenting America's young, lost and hiding
Gimme Shelter — In Gimme Shelter, Florian Geiss' staged photographs show the universal frailty of what it means to be young today, while asking where do we go from here?

We’re all looking for a sense of purpose to get us through life. It doesn’t really matter what it is – it can come in the shape of a loving person, an occupation you can pour your heart and soul into, or even just a sense of freedom, of never having to settle down and lower your head.

And it’s that search, and the melancholy of not having found a solution yet, that photographer Florian Geiss explores in his new book, Gimme Shelter. Shot all over the world, from Los Angeles to Africa’s Western Cape, his images mix the very human yearning for purpose with the sense of unfathomable loss that comes with modernity. His subjects pose carefully between expansive landscapes, both natural and man-made, making them look small, human – alone.

© Florian Geiss © Florian GeissIt makes sense to be asking for somewhere safe to be. Although the title, Gimme Shelter, makes reference to the iconic Rolling Stones track about the Vietnam War, the book takes that necessity of physical protection from the very real threat of violence, and applies it into modernity and being young, needing emotional protection and from living without a purpose.

Each image carefully staged and with a hint of cinematography, Florian explores what’s it like to exist outside of the guidelines that dictated the lives of previous generations. Because although young people are still pressured by the old American image of what “success” means, we no longer live in times where those measures of happiness are universally applicable.

He also explores gender stereotypes, still perpetuated even within this generational hopelessness. In these images, masculine subjects show an undoubtedly rough exterior, but are still frail, still struggling to find purpose outside of discipline. Women are shown as delicate, but also challenging and sexual. Florian’s subjects are multifaceted, just as all people are.

The protection they are asking for is from a storm that is both physical, shown in threatening stormy grey skies above the cities the photographer visited, and metaphorical, in the heart of young people without a carved way life, a clear future or a compass – a guide for the so-called “path towards success”. So, where do we go from here?

© Florian Geiss
4265-florian-geiss-hr-18
© Florian Geiss
© Florian Geiss
4265-florian-geiss-hr-17
4265-florian-geiss-hr-12
© Florian Geiss
A 82208Gimme Shelter by Florian Geiss is out now, published by Hatje Cantz.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Latest on Huck

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities
Photography

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities

New exhibition, ‘Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography’ interrogates the use of photography as a tool of objectification and subjugation.

Written by: Miss Rosen

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps
Photography

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps

After a car crash that saw Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa hospitalised, his sister ran away from their home in South Africa. His new photobook, I Carry Her Photo With Me, documents his journey in search of her.

Written by: Lindokuhle Sobekwa

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene
Photography

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene

New photobook, ‘Epicly Later’d’ is a lucid survey of the early naughties New York skate scene and its party culture.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Did we create a generation of prudes?
Culture

Did we create a generation of prudes?

Has the crushing of ‘teen’ entertainment and our failure to represent the full breadth of adolescent experience produced generation Zzz? Emma Garland investigates.

Written by: Emma Garland

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race
Photography

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race

Photographer R. Perry Flowers documented the 2023 edition of the Winter Death Race and talked through the experience in Huck 81.

Written by: Josh Jones

An epic portrait of 20th Century America
Photography

An epic portrait of 20th Century America

‘Al Satterwhite: A Retrospective’ brings together scenes from this storied chapter of American life, when long form reportage was the hallmark of legacy media.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Sign up to our newsletter

Issue 81: The more than a game issue

Buy it now