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

Vogue Guy Bourdin
Gres by GB
Cabochon
bourdin 1977 vogue homme juin fb
vogue_paris_june_july_1975__bourdin1

12 comments:

fred said...

Great images as always...I loved Sasha s editorial..
kisses!

Ashley said...

Omg I love Bourdin's photography. I haven't seen a couple of these before..thanks for posting!



http://fashionroadkill-halifax.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

love these erotic and nostalgic images! great blog!

oh so awesome to find another that is interested in mid-century jewelry! if you go on ebay and type modernist rings/earrings/etc you can find some at more affordable prices~

<3

come back again and much love from:

buttonsandbowsla.com!!

Natalia said...

In all honesty I had never heard of him until I stumbled upon your blog. And you're absolutely right, it is strange indeed that he has so extensively been left out of the fashion photography canon.

MDS* said...

Mi bebé está precioso! Thanks for asking!

XX

Unknown said...

He is one of the greatest.

E.K. said...

Your really do pick nice images.

holierthannow said...

my friend has a guy bourdin HUGE print in her house that was a discarded "bad" print - i won't say from where but suffice it to say she worked at a major photo place in nyc

SIGH!

Cruz said...

Guy Bourdin was one of the best, thanks for posting

andreadaquino@mac.com said...

i am not quite as inside the fashion world as some of your readers, i imagine, are....but i find your blog SO original and wonderful, full of real taste and vision and interesting things.....this is just another reason why! can never be too many posts about bourdin. keep up the great, inspiring work.

Jana FitzGerald said...

Can I join this club!!

Anonymous said...

I got deep into photography after seeing Guy Bourdin's shoe ads in the American Photographer magazine in the late '70's.
He was the greatest!