There are several reasons to visit Milan even though fashion month has almost ended. There are not only dazzling fashion shows and models at every corner, but also a fascinating selection of art exhibitions. Amongst them, and really close to the fashion district, two by Guy Bourdin. The Galleria Carla Sozzani dedicates two consecutive exhibitions to the French photographer: In Between and Untouched. The first one, on show until October 11th, presents around twenty exceptional fashion images shot between 1950 and 1987 that were never shown again after their first publication. The second one, on show from October 15th to November 12th, presents a selection of previously unreleased pictures shot in the early ‘50s, which helped pave the path to Bourdin’s future success in fashion photography.
Widely discussed and often referred to as ‘maudit’, Guy Bourdin is definitely one of the most interesting photographers of the last century as he somehow managed to subvert the concept of fashion photography. Deeply influenced by surrealism (Man Ray being his mentor) Bourdin expressed his obsession for the female figure in a deeply irreverent way by placing models in creepy landscapes, undressing them, turning them upside down, erasing half of their bodies leaving only legs and – most particularly – high heeled shoes. All this without ever losing the irony and the elegance of his signature style.
The French photographer was abandoned as a child by his mother, whom he remembers as a red haired, pale and heavily made up woman that he never truly forgave. This somehow explains the recurrence of models with red hair and the choice to place them in squalid, lonely and sometimes perversely violent settings. Despite his total lack of acceptance for tradition and schemes, in 1955 Guy Bourdin published his first, legendary photo shoot for Vogue Paris – for which he kept on working until 1987, often being given carte blanche.
In 1967 he started working for the shoe designer Charles Jourdan and the collaboration led to some of the most revolutionary campaigns ever seen up till then. Bourdin created fashion images where the picture was more relevant than the product itself: “Shoes are in the picture but it is not just a picture of shoes”.
Many are the anecdotes on Bourdin's terrible personality, his mean attitude towards models, his lack of patience and flexibility and also his ambivalent relationship with the fashion and art systems. For all his life he refused prizes, showed no interest in doing exhibitions or creating a personal archive, and demanded for all his works to be destroyed after his death. Only in 2001 his son, Samuel, succeeded in retrieving his father's work – which was scattered all around the world in a spectacular disorder – and in publishing Exhibit A, a collection of Bourdin's most significant works.
In Between and Untouched – both curated by Shelly Verthime – take us through a journey along the early years of the photographer's career. Whilst his first works are traditionally renowned for the intensity of colours, both of these selections are curiously enough entirely in black and white: an unexpected choice which highlights the more unknown aspects of his work.
The French photographer was abandoned as a child by his mother, whom he remembers as a red haired, pale and heavily made up woman that he never truly forgave. This somehow explains the recurrence of models with red hair and the choice to place them in squalid, lonely and sometimes perversely violent settings. Despite his total lack of acceptance for tradition and schemes, in 1955 Guy Bourdin published his first, legendary photo shoot for Vogue Paris – for which he kept on working until 1987, often being given carte blanche.
In 1967 he started working for the shoe designer Charles Jourdan and the collaboration led to some of the most revolutionary campaigns ever seen up till then. Bourdin created fashion images where the picture was more relevant than the product itself: “Shoes are in the picture but it is not just a picture of shoes”.
Many are the anecdotes on Bourdin's terrible personality, his mean attitude towards models, his lack of patience and flexibility and also his ambivalent relationship with the fashion and art systems. For all his life he refused prizes, showed no interest in doing exhibitions or creating a personal archive, and demanded for all his works to be destroyed after his death. Only in 2001 his son, Samuel, succeeded in retrieving his father's work – which was scattered all around the world in a spectacular disorder – and in publishing Exhibit A, a collection of Bourdin's most significant works.
In Between and Untouched – both curated by Shelly Verthime – take us through a journey along the early years of the photographer's career. Whilst his first works are traditionally renowned for the intensity of colours, both of these selections are curiously enough entirely in black and white: an unexpected choice which highlights the more unknown aspects of his work.
In Between is on show until October 11th, and Untouched will take place from October 15th to November 12th at Galleria Carla Sozzani, Corso Como 10, Milan.
In Between
Vogue Paris, October 1969
Vogue Paris, September 1976
Vogue Paris, Settembre 1972
Vogue Paris, February 1971
Untouched
Untitled, 1950-1955
Untitled, 1950-1955
Untitled, 1950-1955
Untitled, 1950-1955
Untitled, 1950-1955