Guy Bourdin: the use of fantasy to make people dream

Guy Bourdin is one of photographers the most influential of the 20th century. He is known for his erotic and surrealist images published in Vogue magazine or his advertising campaigns for luxury Charles Jourdan shoes. Let's discover this artist photographer who favored staging over the typical cliché of the "product" to make people dream the public.

The sketch of a photographer in the making

Né Paris in 1928, Guy Bourdin was interested in art from a very young age. If he starts to become a passionate painter During his adolescence, he was introduced to music. photography during military service in Senegal in 1948. Dakar that this artist photographer will become familiar with the technical aspects of this art and develop a formalist approach.
In 1950, the future photographer returned to work. Paris with an obsession for photography. From then on, he will sharpen his skills and work on his own style. His first photographs outline his later work by showing images filled with a sense of tragedy and suspense. During this period, a photograph shows us a naked body in front of us. flat on your stomach on a pebble beach. The plan is dominated by by an oppressive cliff. This image is very representative of the work of Bourdin by illustrating themes developed by the artist photographer such as nudity, death, but also narration.

From Man Ray Vogue Paris

By being attracted to through surrealism, the photographer begins to explore seek advice from one of the greatest visual artists of the time, Man Ray. The latter will show him how to work without constraint by teaching him how to do it. use graphic imagery to influence your style. Subsequently, he met Edmonde Charles-Roux, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris. Although Bourdin has a rather sparse portfolio, he succeeds in making a name for himself. convince Roux thanks to his few photographs, including black and white nudes.
Initially, the artist photographer worked for Vogue Paris on an episodic basis . His career as a photographer exploded when Francine Crescent, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Paris, arrived. The latter leaves the photographer with total creative control and he appears in every issue of Vogue Paris from now on. starting in 1968. This will be a unique opportunity for this photographer to constantly find new ways to challenge perceptions of commercial fashion photography. It was also Francine Crescent who allowed him to meet Charles Jourdan, the designer of luxury shoes for Roland Jourdan. The latter will be the patron of Bourdin.
Bourdin is the first to use scenes made up of numerous visual clues and hidden meanings in order to integrate a narrative dimension into the story. his photographs. Thanks to this technique, the photographer leads the public to understand what they are doing. consume the story he tells in his photographs. The clothes worn by the models become secondary, but, being an integral part of the decor and the narrative, they stand out They permeate the public imagination in a much more precise way. Unlike the fashion photography of his colleagues, Bourdin offers a revolutionary approach which will make him one of the most popular photographic artists renowned artists of his time. The bright colors, the strong use of sexual imagery as well as its stories give to the character. his photographs have a stimulating aesthetic.

An artist photographer tormented by a morbid personal story

To understand the work of this photographer, it is imperative to return to certain points key of his life. Abandoned Shortly after his birth in 1928, he saw his mother again, a red-haired woman, years later in a Parisian restaurant run by his grandparents. Although it made a great impression on him, he refused to accept it. to speak to him. This fear of abandonment is perhaps what led her to abandon herself. having an obsessively controlling relationship with his wife, Solange Géze with whom he married. in 1962. Bourdin wasé until’take away the phone and forbid him from meeting friends. Together they had a son, Samuel. The couple separated when the photographer had a relationship with one of his redhead models, Holly Warner. Shortly after, Solange Géze suffered a fatal overdose.
Bourdin continues to be tyrannical and authoritarian towards Holly Warner who attempts suicide when she realizes that her best friend, Eva Gschopf, also a redhead, seems to have seduced Bourdin. However, Gschopf was found dead after having jumped of a tree under the effect of LSD. Bourdin sets his sights on Sybille Dallmer, but the latter ends up being taken.
All these episodes had an impact on Bourdin's work. In addition, the artist photographer reveals himself to be a dominant man, in his opinion. the limit of tyrannical character. His friend, Serge Lutens, explained that Bourdin forced the girls to do anything. stay in uncomfortable poses for as long as possible, more to enjoy the position of power. A story also circulated regarding a photography session where two models were covered in black pearls. Bourdin has kept them like this, despite this. their protests, until’ They end up passing out from lack of oxygen. Bourdin reportedly said «Oh, it would be wonderful to have them dead in the bed» while the editor-in-chief removed the pearls.

The 70s, the photographer's heyday

In the 1970s, the artist photographer was at the top of his art. He achieved a series of advertising campaigns which continue, even today, to influence artists such as the one representing a boy who stares at a room in front of him. bed and where a woman screams, in the background, in the background through television noise. On the bed, we see a dead woman whose nakedness is visible. is at; barely concealed by a few towels and wearing Charles Jourdan shoes on his feet. This photograph is strangely reminiscent of the scene of the artist's wife who was photographed. found dead in front of the television following an overdose. The narrative and surrealism used in Bourdin's photographs create dreamlike scenes in a setting of lust, violence and suspicion of dark fantasy.
The beginning of the 1980s heralded the fall of this photographer. Indeed, the ’industry turned to images more glamorous proposed by Peter Lindbergh or Bruce Weber. His contracts with Vogue Paris and Charles Jourdan are terminated. The photographer has difficulty make ends meet and debts pile up. In 1989, he was diagnosed with cancer which would take his life two years later, in 1989. at the age of 62.