Hanging out with Juergen Teller

Teller I’m pretty confident in saying that Juergen Teller is my most favourite photographer of all time. One of the most important and exciting photographers in fashion and portraiture; Juergen’s work was the mood board to my growing up. Iconic and provocative, his works tell a story; an intimate, slightly tongue in cheek, real and honest story. The works are always a clear collaboration between him and the subject, a moment paused in time, Teller’s presence always felt. I was a pretty happy girl to get myself a ticket to spend an evening with Teller at the ICA in London. ‘Juergen Teller-Woo’, a retrospective exhibition of his work was on, and on this particular evening he was holding a small ‘audience with’ …woo indeed!

I was enthralled to see him speak, he was supping white wine and swearing with every sentence, I adore him and his passionate approach. Humble and seemingly insecure, it was great to hear him talk of his career and his life. Growing up in Germany, his Father killed himself when he was young and that, he feels, led him to make the most of life and take the best elements of his Dad; “Just fucking run….do the best you can, you only live once….just ask questions and do it.” His work has always stood out for being outrageous and attention grabbing, but when you look at it again you see a warm sensitivity and realism. I love the lighting in his work, stark sunlight or flat studio light; raw and truthful. I also adore the fact that he has photographed Kate Moss many, many times over the years and his shots of her are without a doubt my most favourite Moss images ever, you see her character and humanity.

The exhibition was small but beautiful, with so much of his work to choose from I think it was edited and curated perfectly. The huge, larger than life prints of a nude, fully exposed Vivienne Westwood makes the subject both confrontational and vulnerable at the same time. Sat next to a sugary sweet portrait of a kitten, you know Teller has his sense of humour firmly in place. Having worked for so many big brands such as Marc Jacobs, Celine, Westwood and Helmut Lang, his work is iconic of its time and I just cant get enough of it.

TellerTellerTellerTellerTellerTeller

 

Teller

 

TellerTellerAs a small part of the exhibition, Teller filled a little box room with tear sheets of his work from magazines, lots from the 90’s that I remember….this little room was just like walking into my younger self’s bedroom….Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain, PJ Harvey, Kate Moss, Annie Morton, Bjork and Winona Ryder pinned up on the walls….all images I have known and coveted. A brilliant addition to the exhibition. Juergen; you are ace. Teller room 1Teller room 2Teller room 3 Teller room 4

Fashion Fantasy

‘Really, I only photograph what I love’ ~Tim Walker

Tim Walker’s fashion photography is stunning. The sheer beauty of his work fascinates me endlessly. I got to Somerset House just in the nick of time to catch his Story Teller exhibition at the end of its run. And boy am I glad I did. Absolutely gorgeous. Known for his surreal, fantastical and fairy tale imagery, Walkers work leaves me drooling. He never fails to play with our concept of scale and imagination. Over sized props, doll like models, dreamlike surroundings, childish, fragile and softly eerie, the narrative in all his work is what makes it stand out from other fashion photography. His work has an echo of the photographer Cindy Sherman, whose work I also love. This exhibition was like escaping into a wonderland for a while, room after room, plain white with wooden floors, filled with magnificent props and the most perfect display of his work. A much better space than the Valentino exhibition which I visited elsewhere in Somerset House.There were also a few short films of photo shoots, the most adorable was the doll one, with a fuzzy dreamy haze and Jewellery box music soundtrack. When I try to choose my most favourite images of Walkers, I can’t, there are way too many, and he has photographed Miss Moss many times too which makes choosing even harder. Here are some images of his that I love the most, and some shots of the props that were at the show. Divine.

Tim Walker, Kate Moss, 2012

Tim Walker, Spitfire, 2009

Tim Walker, Swan, 2002

Tim Walker, Giant Doll, 2012

Sugar crystalized roses and cream, photographed by Tim Walker, 2010

Tim Walker, Giant Snail, 2009Tim Walker, Mechanical Doll, 2011

Tim Walker, Pastel Cats, 2000

tim Walker, The Dress Lamp Tree, 2002

Tim Walker SpitfireTim Walker Swan CarriageGiant Doll

 

  • Kate Moss by Tim Walker, 2012
  • Blue Spitfire by Tim Walker, 2009
  • Swan by Tim Walker, 2002
  • Giant Doll by Tim Walker, 2012
  • Sugar crystallized Roses by Tim Walker, 2010
  • Giant Snail by Tim Walker, 2009
  • Clockwork Doll by Tim Walker, 2011
  • Pastel Cats by Tim Walker, 2000
  • Dress Lamp Tree by Tim Walker, 2002
  • Spitfire prop at the exhibition
  • Swan chariot prop at the exhibition
  • Giant doll prop at the exhibition

Visit Somerset House for details of up and coming exhibitions.

Kate Moss Up Close

I was out in London last Thursday evening to meet a friend. I heard through the grapevine that a certain Miss Moss was also gonna be out in London. Whoooooop said I.

Kate was launching her new book; ‘Kate: The Kate Moss Book’ and was signing copies at Marc Jacobs’ book store Bookmarc, near Bond Street. Camera in hand I thought I’d pop by to try and get a peek at my favourite girl. When I arrived there was a queue along the side of the shop, around 100 people, not as many as I thought, but then I think maybe her appearance had been kept kinda quiet on the whole. I didn’t choose to queue up and meet her, I preferred the idea of just getting a close-up view as she went in, so I stood with the 5 or 6 Paparazzi guys at the front entrance to the shop. Less than 10 minutes later, there she was, her Mercedes pulled up just feet in front of me and out got Kate! An exhilarated girl was I. I snapped away and surveyed her loveliness with my eyes. The shots I got are mostly pretty rubbish but I adore them. In the blinding light of the flashes Kate was petite, smiley and absolutely bloody dazzling.

The book is a huuuge heavy coffee table book and there are 8 different covers to choose from. The book contains hundreds of photographs, many of which have never been seen before, as chosen by Kate herself to showcase her career which has made her an Icon of a generation. She has dedicated the book to her husband Jamie.

Queen Kate, good to see you.

 

 

Life is Beautiful says Mr Brainwash

Sitting on a London bus the other month, my eyes were caught by the face of Kate Moss, huge billboard size, pop art style Moss. I made a mental note to head back to Holburn to photograph it one day soon, and that day came last week. I knew from investigating, that it was the work of Mr Brainwash to advertise his first UK show. As far as I knew the show ended in August, so I headed up there with just the expectation of seeing a larger than life Miss Moss, and nothing else. Lordy how my heart leapt when I saw that the show was still on, and it was free. Yipeeeee.

Mr Brainwash, (moniker of Thierry Guetta) delights and intrigues me. Parisian born, he was living in LA running a vintage fashion store whilst having an obsession with both street art and making amateur films. Most famous for being in the Banksy film ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’, Brainwash has always been clouded by controversy…..is he an elaborate prank of Banksy’s, is he Banksy himself unveiled, is he just a Banksy copycat? I like the fact that through a film that started out as a documentary about Banksy; street art’s most notorious and secretive character, a new street artist was created and is now more accessible and talked about than Banksy himself. Sceptics may debate that Brainwash only got where he is via Banksy and that he has very little to do with his own art except for the initial ideas, which are merely carried out by his creative team. This, is modern art, I like it, millions around the world like it, and Brainwash himself says he is “Banksy’s biggest work of art.” In a way he subverts the very genre he is a part of as well as art from the past. He takes iconic pop art and defaces it into a new message, he takes classic, fine artwork and puts the faces of modern icons in place of the Royals. He puts art that is meant for the street into an organised indoor area, he has moved street art on and offered it to the mainstream. Some may think his work is pretentious but I think it is the complete opposite. The show is free, you can take photos till your hearts content, there are no titles or wafty explanations, the artist himself is there to chat with and the art is just there for you to look at. End of. Of course I also love that Kate Moss features heavily in his work.

The old sorting office is the perfect location for this show, the massive bare industrial space looks ace littered with his pops of colour and humour. Oversized installations, stencil work, galleries of icons and Mr Brainwash himself was there on the day I visited, a great atmosphere was evident. The uplifting slogans and the bursts of colour that this show prescribe are perfect for an autumn day in London, I was having a particularly frowny day when I visited and it put a sense of cheer right back into me. Yay.

 

 The exhibition was reopened due to popular demand in October 2012, until further notice.

For more information check out;

www.banksyfilm.com      and      www.mrbrainwash.com

 

Johnny be mine….

A somewhat nostalgic pictorial post today, an ode to possibly the coolest guy on Earth and his ridiculously beautiful girlfriends……alas, news has broken today that Johnny Depp and his girl of 14 years, Vanessa Paradis, are no more. Johnny is pretty much as good as it gets when it comes to handsome men, and obviously, the women in his life are equally stunning. My gosh was there ever a couple as enchanting to the eyes as him and Miss Moss, and of course Miss Winona Ryder is as gorgeous as the man himself. I figured him and Vanessa were as close to a perfect match as you can get, but hey, nothing can be promised as forever and permanence is a rare and less expected thing in love these days…….whoever he is sharing his kissing time with, at least we can oooh and ahhh at the sheer beauty of it all……

 

 

 

….so Johnny is now a single man…..oh.