The fabulously enigmatic
By Daniela Bonetto
Entitled Guy Bourdin: Image- Maker, the work on show simply exemplifies his craftsmanship. Each and every one of his photographs, even the ones that sell a product, are all about the story. In each of these images he established the idea that the product is secondary to the image.
Bourdin never took measures to immortalise his work. In his lifetime, he never published a book, he never hosted an exhibition of his colour photography, and he even rejected the Gran Prix de la Photographie from the French government. History tells us that American curator and collector Sam Wagstaff once sent an open cheque to Bourdin and asked him to fill out the amount, but it was returned ripped up into pieces. Brilliant!
This photographer didn’t believe that a photography market would develop to encompass his commercial work, so he placed little emphasis on promoting it after publication.
Curated by Alistair O’Neill with Shelly Verthime, the exhibition includes over 100 colour exhibition prints of Bourdin’s most significant works, as well as early and late works in black and white that serve to challenge Bourdin’s reputation as a colour photographer. This is complimented by a range of other photographic materials: unique Polaroid test shots, double-page spread layouts, contact sheets and transparencies marked for composition that explore Bourdin’s craftsmanship as an image maker and the processes involved in producing startling and provocative imagery in a pre-digital age. It also highlights Bourdin as a pioneer of fashion film, showcasing a range of Super-8 films he made at the same time as his on-location photo shoots.
But apart from these colour prints what one can also see are some black and white ones along with unique Polaroid test shots, double-page spread layouts, contact sheets and transparencies marked for composition. We see the genius at work in what seems a long forgotten pre-digital age!
Until 15 March
Embankment Galleries, Somerset House, London
somersethouse.org.uk
All images © The Guy Bourdin Estate, 2014/ Courtesy A+C