Juergen Teller and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York.Top: Cindy Sherman, left with Mr. Teller.
Bottom: Victoria Beckham as photographed by Mr. Teller for an ad campaign for Marc Jacobs. Images from nytimes.com.
Once again, Mr. Teller proves that you don't need a $10,000 rig to shoot a multi-million dollar ad campaign for the purveyors of high fashion and styles. He shoots with a Contax G2, the little camera that can. He shoots fashion and celebrities all right but to say that he is just a fashion photographer is akin to declare a fashion collection very wearable, which inadvertently and unmistakably reduces fashion to an utility, not a high praise indeed. Mr. Teller's works are more recognized as art works than mere fashion shots. His style runs much in the same vein as that of Terry Richardson, and to a lesser degree pants-optional Don Charney and a boat load of other photographers shooting for downtown fashion/lifestyles magazines like Nylon and such. The images are usually offbeat, irreverent, and not overly polished at all; in short, images much rely on the photographer's seeing and the visceral response to the subjects as opposed to elaborate lighting and Photoshop techniques. So you can easily end up with photographers who shun overly polished techniques but truly know what they are doing artistically, and those who have no techniques and also don't know what they are doing.
Source: When Is a Fashion Ad Not a Fashion Ad? by Cathy Horyn of the New York Times.
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