On The Road With Juergen Teller

It's always interesting to see a creative dabble in a field that they're not familiar with. In 2009, photographer Juergen Teller was invited to contribute a column to the magazine of Die Zeit, Germany’s most respected newspaper. "But writing? I'm a photographer!" he responded before accepting. For over a year, Teller sent in photographs accompanied by short descriptive texts (blunt, some of them funny, some poignant, others controversial), for his column entitled On The Road With Juergen Teller, which gave new dimensions to the works. A selection are included in his latest book, Pictures and Words.

It's a fascinating insight into Teller's world: his close relationships with models, designers and musicians, treasured moments with his family and the loss of his agent, Katy Baggott (one of the longest descriptions in the book). Whilst the column was celebrated, it also incited outcry from its two million weekly readership. The book's success is furthered by the inclusion of a selection of letters from those readers, including ones that deem Teller's images "gross", disgusting and "repugnant!", and his text arrogant and "filled with self-adulation".

Here, AnOther presents a selection of images with short extractsfrom Teller's accompanying texts...

Juergen on Kate in the Wheelbarrow... "Many years ago, I just wanted to be in the sun during winter, without thinking about the photographs first. We went to the Seychelles with Kate Moss and her mother. It got far too hot for me... the hotel didn't have air conditioning...none of us could get a wink of sleep at night. The next morning we found these tortoises in the garden. Huge things, like monsters from some crappy horror movie, still having sex for hours. I've been working with Kate since she's fifteen and I love her and I still like photographing her. But that trip was awful."

Juergen on The Little Bugger... "I had the pleasure of visiting Bjork and her son in September 1995 in Iceland. As soon as I saw him, I was fascinated by how similar they looked. We were all in the water, and a second after I took the photo, the boy splashed my camera full of water."

Juergen on Late Night and Naked in the Louvre... " After I exhibited this picture, a lot of journalists and critics kept asking me: what is the motivation and reason to shoot Raquel Zimmerman and Charlotte Rampling naked in the Louvre? Having the Louvre to yourself, with Charlotte naked in front of the Mona Lisa – that's enough for me."

Juergen on On Tour with Kurt Curbain... "Kurt Cobain had something special. He was shy, but on stage had unbelievable power and energy. It was the most impressive thing in music I'd ever experienced."

Juergen on Octopussy... "I've always liked Spaghetti Nero. Delicious and one gets black teeth from it."

Juergen on Beaming Ed... "Straight after the funeral of my friend and agent Katy Baggott who had died suddenly, I had to think what would be my next column. I needed something positive and realised pretty quickly I'd use my son, smiling in the bathtub."

Juergen on I Don't Like Cats... "They might look cute but I'm extremely allergic to cats. If I had to, I'd get a dog over a cat any day."

Juergen on Naked on Sigmund Freud's Couch... "After my first visit to the [SZigmund Freud] Museum, it was clear to me: I wanted to do nudes on his famous couch. Stupidly on the day when I took Polaroids of Malgosia, a trusteee watched everything in the office above on video and was shocked. For them, it was the worst thing one could do."

Juergen on Barback Riding... "This is my last column for ZIET magazin... It's a good feeling, sitting in shorts on a horse with no saddle, feeling the wet muscles between your legs, you feel free."

Pictures and Words by Juergen Teller is published by Steidl on May 30 2012.

Text by Laura Bradley