If you like fixed gear bikes and the photography, surely someday you may have come across some picture of Constantin Gerlach. He has works about the fixed culture, collaborations with 8bar, Standert and some others brands. Besides all this, he is passionate of the bycicle.
1. Who is Constantin Gerlach?
My name is Constantin, I was born near of Frankfurt am Main and I moved to Berlin two years ago to study photography.
2. When did you start making photos of cyclism?
I started to take photos of bikes and their riders when I moved to Berlin as soon as I got involved in the Berlin fixed gear scene.
Back in Frankfurt I did a lot of potraits and fashion and car photography and soon, somehow got bored of it, so the bike stuff was a nice new subject to explore.
3. What do you try to capture of the riders with your photos?
I always try to show the character of the people I’m taking pictures of, no matter if it’s fashion, documentary or bike shooting,
And I really love to show the speed of cycling, that’s why I’m often working with long time exposures while shooting bikes.
I mostly use available light and I’m not really a friend of long Photoshop sessions because I like to be a photographer not a retoucher.
4. Which is your favorite subject in the criteriums?
I really like the combination of speed, technique and strategy. You will not be able to win a criterium if you can‘t control your bike perfectly.
5. What is your bike?
Right know I have two bikes, one is an 8bar KRZBERG V2 for racing and a Standert steel track frame for cruising around Berlin.
6. About your favourite photos…
I think the photos that mean the most to me are from the series “STILHED PÅ STRANDEN”. I took these at a beach in Denmark in Summer 2012. This for me is the most personal work I ever photographed in which I think you can find something about me and my past and want to continue this series as soon as I get back to Denmark.
7. Can you tell us some good bike place to visit?
Berlin :-) And I really loved Barcelona by bike!
8. How did you get introduced to fixed gear? Do you remember your first time?
The first time I got in touch with fixed gear bikes was back in Frankfurt am Main 3 years ago with my best friend Chris who converted an old steel road bike to a fixed gear bike. As I saw this beautiful object develop, everything was clear for me, I had to build up my own bike.
9. What‘s your favorite kind of bike? How many km do you use to ride weekly?
I‘m still into fixed gear bikes because for me, this is the most fun way to ride your bike. No matter if you smash through the city or go on longer rides to the countryside.
No other bike looks as clean and puristic as a fixed gear bike what I think for a lot of us is also an important fact.
I‘m riding my bike everyday, to work, to university, in the rain, in the snow because I really hate public transport. At the moment I‘m only riding something about 200km per week but I would love to make more km if I had the time.
10. Can you tell us something about the fixed gear scene in Berlin?
Berlin has a big fixed gear scene and there are more and more events happening this season.
We nearly have 3 to 4 events per week, from nightrides, sprintraces, alleycats and criterium training and, of course, the Sunday 100+km rides to one of the awsome lakes outside Berlin.
11. A small phrase that represents your passion for cycling and bikes…
Not for cycling, but for Photography: “No place is boring, if you‘ve had a good night‘s sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film.” by Robert Adams
12. Thanks to…
I want to thank all the people that worked with me and helped me to create more stunning pictures in the future.
More info on:
www.constantingerlach.de
