23
Nov
GUY BOURDIN: Life Before ‘Ye
Most of us have seen the now iconic artwork for Kanye’s G.O.O.D Fridays releases. Some of them featured famous photos by Helmut Newton, but my personal favorites were by Guy Bourdin. Guy Louis Bourdin (December 2, 1928 in Paris – March 29, 1991 in Paris), born Guy Louis Banarès, was a French fashion photographer.
Bourdin was the first photographer to create a complex narrative, then snatch a moment — sensual, provocative, shocking, exotic, surrealistic, sometimes sinister — and simply associate it with a fashion item. The narratives were strange and mysterious, sometimes full of violence, sexuality, and surrealism. Bourdin was influenced by his mentor Man Ray, photographer Edward Weston, the surrealist painters Magritte and Balthus, and film maker Luis Buñuel. Even though much less well known to the public than his colleague Helmut Newton (also working for Vogue), Bourdin possibly has been more influential on the younger generations of fashion photographers.
Bourdin was not a natural self-promoter, and did not collect his work or make any attempt to preserve them; in fact he refused several offers of exhibitions, rejected ideas for books, and wanted his work destroyed after his death (but since he didn’t keep so much of his work for himself, fortunately most of it was saved). The first major book devoted to his work was Exhibit A (mentioned above), released ten years after his death.
