„Life of the Party“
by: Aaron Rothmann

Giesemann’s series Vom Bleiben, a collaboration with photographer and industrial designer Daniel Schulz, shows empty nightclubs after the party has ended.

With the house lights on and the people away, the photos reveal the shabby details that go unnoticed at night. These spaces are meant to be experienced bodily, not visually.

What matters is the music, the social interaction, the flow of people. Under the harsh, fluorescent light of day, the camera captures none of that, except as a trace.

These are mostly spartan spaces; they look like industrial basements or, in a couple of cases, parking garages, minimally retrofitted for the purpose.

The one outlier shown here has swooping lines and a DJ booth resembling an octopus, an extravagance that may appeal to a certain crowd, but doesn’t fundamentally change the function of the space.

The visual aesthetic and design varies, but it is always less important than the practical concern of making a space for people to come together.

The fun of these photographs is analyzing the subtle differences and guessing exactly what goes on in each room — what kind of people come, what music is played, what is the experience like?