Before F.C. Gundlach definitely changed to the field of fashion photography in 1953, he mainly worked in the area of the reportage, from home stories to social events to travel documentaries.
1953 Film und Frau regarded him as an ‘aspiring talent’. The ‘talented young Stuttgarter will continue to entertain’ the readers of the magazine ‘with his lively travel reportages’ could be read at the end of one of their editorials.
However the travel theme stayed a ruling metaphor for F.C. Gundlach’s life and work. Even on his fashion location travels for Film und Frau and Brigitte he repeatedly focused his viewfinder en passant on the country, people and incidents apart from the staged fashion world.
Initially Paris was his preferred destination, followed by Europe and the world. In 1956 F.C. Gundlach travelled to New York and the USA. His next destination was Egypt, followed by the Orient, Persia, Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, Hong Kong, Central and South America… He flew to Angkor Wat when the temple city threatened to be swallowed by the jungle rather than mass tourism. His Hong Kong reportage precisely showed a British colonial city at the Chinese shore on the move and stands representatively for many more reportages in F.C. Gundlach’s work.