Here is “take” 1
Guy Bourdin: Image Maker, Embankment Galleries, South Wing, Somerset House, London WC2, until 15th March 2015
Guy Bourdin
Vogue Paris, May 1970
© Guy Bourdin
In this show, the largest ever held in the UK, Guy Bourdin’s career as a fashion photographer is delineated from his early days as a protégé of the Surrealist photographer Man Ray to a master craftsman who photographed fashion for magazines such as Vogue Paris and brands like Charles Jourdan and Chanel creating a world both colourful and strange. This was achieved by making the product play the second leading part to the image.
Guy Bourdin
British Vogue, September 1975
© Guy Bourdin
This is encapsulated through colour and black-and-white images and Super-8 films (he was among the pioneers of fashion film). As well as being a self-taught photographer he had always been a painter and a selection of paintings, sketches and working drawings illustrate how this helped his approach to his photographic images. A highlight of the exhibition is the 1979 Walking Legs’ campaign for Charles Jourdan which is being shown in full.
This brings us to “take” 2
Guy Bourdin ‘Walking Legs’, Michael Hoppen Gallery, 3 Jubilee Place, London SW3, until 28th March 2015
Guy Bourdin
Charles Jourdan, 1979
© Guy Bourdin Estate. Courtesy Michael Hoppen Gallery
The gallery compliments the above show with this one focusing on the 1979 Charles Jourdan campaign. The locations were photographed on a car journey from London to Brighton – other than the locations all that can be seen is a pair of mannequin legs and Charles Jourdans’s creations.
michaelhoppengallery.com
Tim Forrest's E & A 