Guy Boudin: Image Maker

I went to Somerset house to visit the UK's largest exhibition ever of the surreal fashion photographer Guy Bourdin. The major retrospective boasted over 100 pieces of his work, some previously unseen to the public. The exhibit had a bold and colourful theme which used bright colours to bring attention to the images. To be able to host the many works there were several narrow but long rooms and two floors which seemed to be forever ongoing. The lighting was rather dim in order to highlight the photographs. There was also a room which had curved walls that had a cine film 360 degree panorama projected on them which was particularly significant.

The exhibit began with a series of photographs took for Charles Jourdan to be used for advertising his shoes. Instead of using the conventional model he dispensed of the use of a studio and utilised a pair of mannequin legs cut off just below the knee. This created a highly distinctive and aesthetically ingenious reputation for his photos. His photographs were displayed across a double page in landscape format to allow the public to fully visualise his work at large. The limbs in glamorous heels walking through piers or rose gardens were perfectly composed images that evoked interest in the sense of diversity. The colours and style of his photographs are so artistic and unique to him and recognisable, he used so many medias to fabricate his exclusive work such as films, drawings, paintings, sketches and Polaroid's. He borrowed from the surrealism principle which in turn produced products that disturb as well as excite.

Throughout the exhibition we can witness the pre-production stage which he composed with drawings which included such attention to detail. The photos were covered with tracing paper featuring the instructions on how to crop the photos. These examples showed how cautiously and carefully Bourdin would plan his images prior to the shooting and they enrich us in the comprehension of his professional methods allowing us to go behind the scenes and see the photos from the drafts first hand. The exhibition also featured the orange Rhodia notebooks which he would carry around with him to write brief statements, rough sketches and drawings which expressed his ideas.

Another interesting highlight of the exhibit were his unique fashion film which offer a glimpse into the process he took to create the imageries and they convey a feeling of what it might be like to be present during one of his shoots. To make his short films he used a super 8 camera and remained unedited allowing them to unfold in real time giving a natural insight. To display and project  a cine film 360 degree panorama a  room which had curved walls was used. This was a particularly significant part of the exhibit that I found to be breath taking yet haunting as you are surrounded by close up black and white images with eery music playing.

Bourdin's wholesome and dark ideas were quite simple but managed to produce an amazing sense of the artificial, created by lights, mirrors and reflectors. It was a rare display and had an outstanding volume of work which was of such great quality. It is clear he had a keen sense of how images should be used and of their importance. However unusual, his work is simplistic yet powerful and beautiful and offered him a great scope for photographical invention which he took full use of.