LAUNCHING THE GUY BOURDIN CLUB!

Yes, another Guy Bourdin post!

For purposes of comparison (see previous post) and for those of you who have yet to discover Guy Bourdin’s work, I’ve attempted to find other less known visuals. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you’ll know that I find it impossible to be dispassionate about this particular photographer. I genuinely believe that you could learn the science and craft of fashion photography from him. His achievements are really important and it is no coincidence that he has influenced so many contemporary photographers. I find it hard to understand why until recently his ingeniousness had been frequently left out in many of the tributes to fashion photography. Revolutionary and groundbreaking, it is a shame that no concise informative history of his life can be found. His unusualness comes from the way he saw things, with originality but also poetry, as well as his sense of colour and composition always so obscure as to be almost perverse or violent. A lot of reviews and critics have focused on the tragic series of events that underscored Bourdin’s life, punctuated by turbulent and dark love episodes, a context which offers little to the viewer except a theatrical characterisation of the character. I’ve been looking at some of my books about him and reading articles which never delve deeply into the depths of his character or given events, and at times I’ve wondered why people hardly ever refer to the humour and playful spirit of the man. I’ll admit that it is scarcely visible but it’s certainly there, on the edge.
He is a magician in the world of fashion with a long-lasting pulling power.
Have any of you seen the show at the Wapping Project?

All pictures from The Fashion Spot