Geoff Cordner was raised in Libya, western Canada, and Egypt. Geoff attended university in Austin, TX. He later moved to Los Angeles, where he enthusiastically photo-documented the early ‘80s punk music scene for various punk zines. In 1988 he went to Milan, for an intended six months stay that lasted for six years. While in Milan Geoff worked first as a fashion model and then as a fashion photographer. Geoff has also designed album covers, rock ‘n’ roll posters, and advertisements, all lending themselves to his unique vision as a photographer.
On the genre of portraiture, bestselling author Jerry Stahl notes, “Beyond his technical mastery, Cordner’s particular genius is the way in which he inspires trust in his subjects, often those for whom all trust has been betrayed. Whether it’s a smacked-out teenaged neo-punk or a sloe-eyed Hollywood hustler, Cordner goes beneath the ink and attitude to the damaged soul within.” In his quest for the raw essence of each humble subject from marginalized groups, he draws parallels with Diane Arbus, Nan Goldin, Graciela Iturbide, and Robert Mapplethorpe.
PRESS
“Geoffrey Cordner is a thrift-shop visionary whose photographs capture the underbelly of millennial America with a heart and ruthlessness that places him beyond trend and fashion, in a status all his own. Beyond his technical mastery, Cordner’s particular genius is the way in which he inspires trust in his subjects, often those for whom all trust has been betrayed. Whether it’s a smacked-out teenaged neo-punk or a sloe-eyed Hollywood hustler, Cordner goes beneath the ink and attitude to the damaged soul within. What Diane Arbus did for her gallery of mutants, and Nan Goldin did for her own crop of tormented hipsters, Geoff Cordner does for the denizens of his own outre universe. Having passed through international fashion and commercial advertising, album covers and rock’n’roll posters, this is a photographer who has abandoned the trappings of conventional success to bring us a world of savage, mind-blowing and relentless images the rest of us might never see.” — JERRY STAHL, author of Permanent Midnight & Perv: a Love Story
“Cordner captures that space between breaths, where photography transcends documentation and morphs into the pure essence of being. A small moment in time where the subjects drop their natural defenses and instead of posing for the shot, seem to exist forever, not trapped by their image, but for once, finally freed within it in.” — LYDIA LUNCH
“The constitution of photographer Geoff Cordner is part cut-throat visionary, part punk rock prankster. His subversive exploits are an assault on the senses.” — CLINT CATALYST, author of Cottonmouth Kisses
“…some of the most incredible and visionary work seen during our tenure. Controversial, seeking, raw and indelibly modern, Cordner shoots from the hip and leaves the viewer with an elevated pulse, and a thick taste on the tongue of the morning after… Hard-hitting… drenched with black humor and asking big questions.” —HEATHER CORRINA, Scarlet Letters
“The new Weegee” — LEGS McNEIL, author of Please Kill Me, an Oral History of Punk Rock
“Seldom do we see photographers’ sites express the rawness, intimacy and gritty grownup punk attitude as found in Geoff Cordner’s work. It conveys an unusual frankness with the subject; it’s tough not to feel like you’re reading a kinky diary captured on camera. Stunning.” — VIOLET BLUE
“A reprehensible, socially parasitic artist” — MS MAGAZINE
EXHIBITIONS
2019: GENERATIONAL: Latinx LGBTQIA Artists, w/ Myriam Gurba, (group show, part of SUR:biennial)
2008: Lust 4 Lace, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits, group video show)
2007: Fetisches, Galeria Alonso Vidal, Barcelona (group show)
2007: Art For Humans Gallery, (group show w/ Jesse Wiedel, Anna Julien, William Ransom, Geoffrey Russell Baird…) Los Angeles
2005: Mondo Pop Gallery, (group show w/ Annie Sprinkle, Tom of Finland, Robert Crumb, John John Jesse…) Auckland, New Zealand
2004: The Museum of Erotica, (permanent collection, w/ Robert Mappelthorpe, David LaChapelle, Carlos Batts…) Los Angeles
2001: Platinum Oasis, Group show, Coral Sands Motel, (w/ Bruce La Bruce, Ron Athey, Kembra Pfahler, Franco B…) Los Angeles
2001: Group show, the Creative Center, Los Angeles
2001: Neurotica, Group show, (w/ Dave Naz, Anthony Ausgang, Stacy Lande, Justice Howard…) Holly Matter Gallery, Los Angeles
1999: Group show, Fototeka Gallery, Los Angeles
1999: Solo exhibition, “These Children that Come at You With Knives”, Zero 1 Gallery, Los Angeles
1993: Solo exhibition: “Pornos” Barcelona Spain
1993: Joint exhibition, Apollo Theater, Barcelona Spain, w/ Oskar Ohlson
1992: Solo exhibition, Milan Italy
1984: Group show: Punk Poster Art UT Austin
FILM FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS
2008: Lust 4 Lace, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibits, group video show)
2007: Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland
2006: Austin Film Festival, Austin, Texas
2006: Bend Film Festival, Bend Oregon
2006: Super Shorts Film Festival, London (and travelling), UK
2006: SF Indie Docfest, San Francisco, CA
2006: Sidewalk Film Festival, Birmingham, Al
2005: Lucid Underground, Kansas City Intl. Film Festival, Kansas City, Mo
PUBLISHED WORK & PARTIAL CLIENT LIST
British Vogue, Elle (Paris), Mondo Oumo, King Moda, Hello, Figaro, Ola, Vanidad, Le Soir, La Stampa, Drum, Bikini/Raygun, Flipside Magazine, Skratch Magazine, Maximum Rock’n’Roll, While You Were Sleeping, Popsmear, Max, Vibe, Style & the Family Tunes, Genre, POZ, Geffen Records, Lakeshore Records, EMI Records, Sony Films, Buena Vista Films, CBS Television, BET, People Magazine, TV Guide, Seventeen Magazine, Chicago Magazine, Los Angeles AIDS Committee, Tear Magazine, La Repubblica.