Here at Elegantly Papered, it would be fair to say that we are slightly obsessed with Juergen Teller's work. The German fine art and fashion photographer is perhaps best known for the (in)famous cast of individuals who have featured in his work over the last thirty plus years: Kate Moss, Kurt Cobain and Bjork are just three of the high profile celebrities Teller has shot, often in various states of déshabillé.
As a fashion photographer, Teller has also had a great deal of success in the commercial field shooting campaigns for brands such as Marc Jacobs, Valentino, Missoni, Yves Saint Laurent, and Celine to name but a few. His longstanding relationship with British designer Vivienne Westwood particularly stands out. With their rebellious and punk-rock attitude toward creating art, Teller and Westwood make consistently inspiring collaborators.
Teller is also well known for his fine art photography, working alone and collaborating with many emerging and established artists and filmmakers including Araki Nobuyoshi, Sarah Lucas, and Sofia Coppola. In 2006 he teamed up with American contemporary artist Cindy Sherman to produce Ohne Titel which features a collection of largely unpublished photographs of the two artists together in different guises. The playful series was commissioned and inspired by Marc Jacobs and is one of our favourite examples of Teller mixing the refined aesthetics of the contemporary art image with the grungy, casual energy of the fashion shoot.
Here in the EP archive, we are also privileged to have much of Teller's harder to find work. We love this rarer shoot in French fashion publication, Double magazine, which commissioned Teller to put together a photo-story entitled 'Ten Days in Havana.' The set of images works beautifully within the landscape format of the publication, demonstrating Teller's eye for detail and skill for elevating the status of seemingly mundane objects.
