All images copyright Guy Bourdin
Apinhole view of London's big and small art exhibitions, artists and events.
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Guy Bourdin - fear, craving and sex in advertising
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991) is one of my favourite fashion photographers to date, having gone the extra step to challenge the moral boundaries of advertising by showing them in their full absurd excess. Polished made up glamour drips off the models to the point of sickness but the whole image is almost always pleasing to the eye. Doll-like 80's make up on little girls, the advert for the shoes lost by a murder victim - there is no lack of dark humour in his visual language! His often over-referenced aesthetic and block colours have remained in luxury advertising ever since.