Juergen Teller Presents A Trio Of Works As Part Of A New London Exhibition

Opening later this week at Alison Jacques Gallery in London Town, what one might consider a ménage a trois of Juergen Teller’s body of work, spanning early photographs from the glory days in the late nineties, right up to his present day “visual essays”. Teller: Go-Sees, Bubenreuth Kids and a Fairytale About a King… presents three collections of work from different periods of the iconic photographer’s career, not only mapping the development of his style but his ability to change perceptions of standardised ideals of beauty and femininity.

Go-Sees, the seminal photo series taken during Teller’s fledgling career as a fashion photographer, was produced over the course of a year from May 1998. Shot on the threshold of Teller’s West London studio, with each shot often framed by the doorway, the series maps first encounters with models who were sent to Teller’s studio by their agencies on Go-See appointments. Teller captures a surreal moment in the life of a model – an appointment with the potential to determine the success of their career, these young, hopeful girls were trying to sell their look. For Teller, it prompted a profound realisation, “for me I realised, in a way, within that period of ’98, ’99, kind of stepping back from fashion, I realised what kind of a sense of power you have as a man, and what sense of power you have as a photographer”. Shy, confident, hopeful, anxious – the portraits of these girls are spontaneous and never retouched – perfectly capturing the emotion of the moment.In a smaller room of the exhibition, Enjoy Your Life! Junior, is a collection of works taken as part of a project with the children of Bubenreuth Primary School, Bavaria. The class of six and sever year olds were led by Teller to his eponymous show at Kunstpalais in Erlangen (2017), and, in a sort of inversion of the Go-Sees project, they were encouraged to emulate the work they saw by taking photographs of Teller and each other. The resulting images are not only a playful re-enactment of the originals, but highlight details from the originals that appealed to the children most and which they sought to re-create.

Finally, a new body of work, which will be shown at the gallery for the first time, segues from his exploration of childhood with a visual narrative of a modern fairy tale. Little is known of the piece, but the photographs supposedly follow the story of a boy born in London who grew up to become a king – you’ll just have to go and see it for yourself.

Juergen Teller: Go-Sees, Bubenreuth Kids And A Fairytale About A King… is on at Alison Jacques Gallery from 24th November 2017 to 13th January 2018 

Images, from top:

Lauren, London, 18th February 1999
© Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved
Courtesy the artist and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Lara, London, 4th March 1999
© Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved
Courtesy the artist and Alison Jacques Gallery, London

www.alisonjacquesgallery.com