Enter JUERGEN TELLER;
In a world of luxury branding, celebrity and artifice, Juergen Teller is a breath of fresh air for fashion. Successfully blending commercial photography and fine art, his candid, stylised fashion imagery and portraits have helped crystallise the identity of many well known brands.
Hailing from Erlanger in Germany, Teller completed his Photography training in Bavaria and immigrated to London in 1986 to set up a small studio. There his raw, overexposed style and anti-glamour aesthetic helped shape the quiet style-revolution taking place in 90’s high fashion.
The signature use of a Contax G2 camera with an unprocessed onboard flash, blasted his subjects and created a washed out, intimate quality with soft and muted colour. This edgy and authentic result earned him commissions working with names such as Nirvana and Bjork, Sinead O’Conner and The Cocteau Twins thus soon being snapped up for editorial work with The Face, i-D, Vogue, W Magazine, and many others.
Marc Jacobs was also quick to tap into the Photographer’s talents, launching many campaigns such as the Perry Ellis Grunge Collection, blending music and grunge subculture with high fashion. Resulting in a campaign shoot for Versace which ultimately landed Teller many gigs shooting high fashion supermodels such as Kate Moss and Kristen McMenamy.
Known for his unexpected take on beauty and the ability to produce an emotional intensity in his images, Teller could be regarded as a visual storyteller that documents the world of music and celebrity equally with the journey of the ingénue, revealing the truth behind the veil in compelling style. Through his ability to capture a moment and a mood, an entire era of fashion photography was defined, not only in terms of aesthetic but attitude.
For more information about Juergen Teller and other Photography Legends you can purchase Fashion Industry Broadcast’s book Masters of Photography Vol. 50 – “Living Legends” from Amazon and all good book stores.
