Shelly Verthime

Guy Bourdin (1928-1991) was a fashion photographer I discovered in my early teens via picture spreads in Photo magazine. He became a protégé of Man Ray after doing his army service, and by 1955, his work started being regularly featured in Paris Vogue, a bible among style-conscious readers. Bourdin is credited with having been among the first to fully exploit the possibilities offered in the format of a magazine double-page spread, and the book's horizontal format was conceived to display his images at their full advantage. His signature style was honed between the 60s and 80s; always pushing the envelope with daring, overtly sexual (some might say sexist), often outrageous concepts and an ultra saturated colour palette, Bourdin never compromised his ideas to please his clients and it's obvious when looking at his incredibly imaginative and often disturbing images that only a man of vision and great conviction could have created the strange worlds he captured on film. All without recourse to the electronic technology contemporary photographers and viewers now take for granted: no digital imagery, no photoshop and limited retouching capabilities. This book, destined to become a collector's item, is beautifully produced by German publisher Steidl and features over 270 of Bourdin's photos covering his entire career.… (more)