Guy Bourdin

Guy Bourdins vivid, narrative-infused work placed him at the vanguard of fashion photography for a career that spanned four decades. In Between demonstrates Guy Bourdins unique conceptual and formal engagement with the double-page spread as an art form in itself. This concept appeared in his first published image for French Vogue (1955), a photograph of a model with an Haute Couture Dior hat captured alongside an array of butchered cow heads. This visual, a signature piece emblematic of the classic elements of Guy Bourdins entire oeuvre, stands firmly as one of the most daring fashion images of the 20th century. Guy Bourdins double page spread became a landmark in the history of advertising photography. His compositions gave new form to ideas about product-illustration creating independently arresting images that invited the reader to participate or witness. Guy Bourdin was both the narrator of a fantastic mise en scene as well as the choreographer of the magazine page, garnering all the more attention for his advertising clients such as Charles Jourdan. With 300 images, In Between re-assembles many of the original image layouts as they were published in magazines such as French Vogue, British Vogue, Vogue Italy, Harpers Bazaar, Linea Italiana and The Best, offering a new and illuminating critical context to the creative process. Guy Bourdin tailored his compositions to the constraints of the printed page both conceptually and graphically, and the mirror motif so central in his work finds its formal counterpart in the doubleness of the magazine spread. Layout and design become powerful metaphors for the photographic medium, engaging the eye and with it, the mind. Published by Steidldangin, In Between was conceived and edited by Shelly Verthime, whose unflagging devotion and nearly 10 years of research has resulted in an unparalleled grasp of the photographers oeuvre. The monograph is introduced by Charlie Scheips, whose knowledge and passion for art, fashion and photography as well as the history of magazine publishing, brings a new perspective to this enduring body of work. Guy Bourdin (19281991) was born in Paris. A painter his entire life and a self-taught photographer, he exhibited his first photographs at Galerie 29 in 1952. His work has been exhibited in the most prestigious museums, such as The Victoria & Albert Museum, the Jeu de Paume, The National Art Museum of China, The Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and The Moscow House of Photography.

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