- Juergen Teller
Juergen Teller (born
1964 ,Erlangen ,Germany ) is a German fashionphotographer , based inEngland . He initially photographed celebrities, and then quickly graduated to shoots for youth style magazines such as The Face andi-D . He is regarded as one of the most influential of contemporaryfashion photographer s, being part of introducing the "snap-shot aestetics" in fashion [http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2004/oct/17/photography.art] and now shoots frequently forConde Nast publicationW Magazine, andMarc Jacobs . He is well-known for introducing the "heroin chic " trend in the early 1990’s. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=/archive/1997/05/23/wcli23.html]Biography
Teller grew up in the small town of Erlangen in Germany. His parents were Czech immigrants, and he describes his childhood both as beautiful, suffocating and conservative, much because of his father’s emotional absence [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3886349.ece] . During a vacation in
Tuscany with his cousin, Teller first got interested in photography [Windin, Cornel; Juergen Teller; Taschen, Köln 1996] .In between
1984 and1986 he attended the "Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie" in Munich.In
1986 he moved toLondon to escape German National Service and a fractured home life aggravated by his father’s alcoholism. There he met Nick Knight for a DICK portfolio viewing. Knight supported Teller in becoming an autonomous photographer rather than working as an assistant, and soon started working for magazines like "i-D" and "the Face".On a photoshoot in Romania he meets stylist
Venetia Scott , who became his partner both professionally and in private, and Scott helped Teller in finding his own distinctive style. They also have a daughter named Lola (born in 1998), who often features in Teller’s photos [http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2003/apr/06/features.magazine47] . Teller and Scott broke up sometime in the early 2000’s, but has continued to work together [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3886349.ece] .In February 1988, just when his career started taking off, Teller’s father comitted suicide.
In the 1990’s, Teller's work was ubiquitous in fashion editorials and advertising spreads for the likes of
Hugo Boss ,Katharine Hamnett andJigsaw , and his work was dubbed "heroin chic ", "anti-fashion" or "grunge ", together with that ofCorinne Day ,David Sims , and brothers Mario andDavide Sorrenti .He has shot all of the advertisements for
Marc Jacobs 's clothing line, and (as of Sept 2005) the last two seasons of advertising campaigns for Yves Saint Laurent.Teller has made several short films including, "Can I Own Myself," in 1998, which featured fashion icon
Kate Moss .He is known for using a simple 35 mm
point and shoot camera .He is married to London gallerist
Sadie Coles since 2003, and they have a son named Ed born in 2005 [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3886349.ece] .References
Books
* "Go-Sees" (Scalo, 1999)
External links
* [http://www.designboom.com/portrait/teller_biography.html juergen teller: short biography]
* [http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/juergenteller Juergen Teller] at Lehmann Maupin Gallery
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