Musician, designer, and founder of the Teenbeat label Mark Robinson shares with readers the inspiration for Ben Geier’s work in his foreword for Ben’s upcoming Trope book, Viewing Hours.
I’m an amateur. I get by on enthusiasm. From the earliest of ages, I remember singing and dancing, playing air guitar, and pretending to be a pop star. The radio was always on, and the Top 40 was my soundtrack. In fifth grade I got my first tape recorder. I started forming semi-fictional music groups; writing lyrics, titles, and, in some cases, designing album covers. When I had saved up enough money, I bought a guitar at the mall for $99.
I grew up immersed in the punk/indie music scene in Washington, D.C. I wanted to write and play music. Punk is all about DIY. No training. Just doing.
Ben had a very similar experience growing up in the Chicago area. We were both inspired by musicians like the kids at Dischord in Washington, D.C., who were releasing their own records around the ages of 18 or 19 in the early 1980s. Before I learned that local music existed—before I knew there were people my age in bands, making records—I assumed all music came from corporate giants like Warner Brothers, Elektra/Asylum, Sire, and a host of others, distributed through stores like Best, Korvette’s, G.C. Murphy’s 5 & 10, and Drug Fair. I was so excited to discover this that I formed my own band, Unrest, and record label, Teenbeat.
This is Ben’s very own album. It has no music, but it makes noise. It makes music. This is a masterwork that has been eight years in the making. We should consider it a greatest hits collection—maybe even a boxed set with six albums, each focusing on a theme: Storefronts, Restaurants, Roadside, Motels, Signs, Theatres. And, of course, it includes a booklet. Or, in this case, a book. Even better.
His signs are as good as Black Flag’s Damaged. His motels are better than The Motels (no offense intended to either motels or the band The Motels). Some motels are just better than others.
Ben is Dieter Rams, perhaps the most famous and important industrial designer of our time—if not of all time. Rams created beautiful masterpieces in the form of record players, clocks, and electric shavers. Like Rams, Ben’s images are meticulously crafted, with every element fitting together perfectly.
Ben is Peter Saville, the innovative graphic designer who changed the world of album covers. In fact, all the photographs in this book could be album covers. They’re so good you wouldn’t even have to put the name of your band on the front.
Ben is Shellac, the power trio fronted by Chicago record producer extraordinaire, Steve Albini. Powerful. Loud. Striking. Sometimes melodic. Often mind-blowing.
Ben is Cindy Sherman, the fine art photographer who immerses herself in her scenes. He not only takes photographs; he puts a lot of himself into them. You can’t see him the way you can see Sherman in her self portraits, but you can feel his presence in every image.
Ben is Ian MacKaye, the archivist and co-founder of Dischord Records. While MacKaye saves, catalogues, and classifies every letter he’s ever received, Ben is cataloguing the world that was, the world that is, and halfway between the two. Old things somehow become more magical with age and he catches every drop of that magic with his camera.
His photography isn’t just fascinating because of what’s inside the frame. It’s how he sets up the shot: where he places the camera, the lighting, the F-stop setting, and a multitude of other intangibles I may never fully understand. That same elusive, unknowable artistry that a musician, painter, or choreographer uses to create is what we see reflected in the pages of this book.
Of all the photographers I follow on the popular media platforms of the day, Ben is my favorite. There’s never a dud and never a dull moment—just pure beauty. Skills developed over years of creating and just doing, not sitting in the back of a classroom.
P.S. News flash. Spoiler alert: Ben shoots digitally. I know. Insane. He somehow captures the most analog-looking photographs we’ve ever seen with modern, computerized, non-film technology and equipment.
Mark Robinson
Musician, designer, and founder of the Teenbeat label
Viewing Hours is available in stores and at trope.com. Order your copy here.
