Sharing his passion for leather on social media to promote its authenticity. “I write love letters to craftsmanship for others to read”. There is romance in the way Ben Geisler tells us about his work as a saddler, leatherworker and engraver. The American craftsman is well known for his leathercrafting work, but also for the outreach he has been doing on social media for about ten years now (160,000 followers on Instagram).
Geisler is one of the group of “leather influencers” from the Is It Leather? platform who attended the Meet & Greet event at Lineapelle 104. He explained his online presence and the value of storytelling to us at La Conceria. “My goal is to foster interest, understanding and appreciation for what is a real material. To explain what it means, to show what it is aesthetically, what it is authentically. As it has been since the beginning of time, and hopefully will be in the future”.
Passion for leather
Ben Geisler grew up in the rodeo business and, after serving in the army, was trained by the famous saddle maker Dale Harwood. “I come from the saddle making tradition of West America”, he tells us, “I’ve been working with leather most of my life. I have a seven-year-old son and I have been working with leather since I was younger than him. For 35 years.
It has always been a kind of fixed element in my life. The way it feels, the way it smells, the way it behaves. And I chose to work with leather in a way that I really like”. That is to say, as a craftsman. “The act of creation is very important to me. And leather as a material gives you so many creative options. But beyond the aesthetic aspect, there is the fact that leather as a material has so many fantastic properties that you can use”.
From craftsman to influencer
“I am a saddle maker and the saddle maker is historically very reticent to talk about his work”, he explains. “My colleagues don’t want to share how they make saddles. There are very few of us doing it and, besides, the population is getting older… So, as the industry gets smaller and smaller, fewer and fewer young people are doing it. There are fewer people teaching it, and the people who can teach it are unwilling or unable to do it”. Geisler is the exception that proves the rule. “I want to share what I do”.
Spreading a passion
“I am deeply interested in my work. I love what I do. When I do it, I really enjoy it. I wish I could share that. And I try to film it so that I can share my creative experience. Trying to make people look through my eyes”. The eyes of someone who loves leather. “It’s such a beautiful material and it has so many uses”, he concludes, “that it’s simply a pleasure for me to be able to share it in a way that I think is accessible to the average person who may simply not know it”.
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