Journal

Happenings: Guy Bourdin, Image Maker

Happenings: Guy Bourdin, Image Maker

Another brilliant exhibition has popped up at Somerset House (see our post about their Blondie show here), and this time the attention is on fashion photographer Guy Bourdin. Surreal, provocative and distinctive, his work reconstructs the standards of fashion photography. Amongst the images on show are his enigmatic ‘Walking Legs’ series, used in advertising for Charles Jourdan shoes, depicting high heel-clad, disembodied limbs strutting through cinematic British landscapes.

The exhibition also highlights his process in creating the images, displaying his sketches, layouts and location polaroids taken as part of his meticulous planning process. Fundamental to his work is composition, shape, light and colour, and these snapshots of the planning stage highlight just how keen an eye he had for detail, making them works of art in their own right.

Guy Bourdin: Image Maker will be at Somerset house until 15th March 2015. You can read more about it and how to get there here.