Who? Widely considered one of the most influential photographers working today, Juergen Teller is the German-born, London based photographer whose raw, overexposed style, irreverent approach to his subjects and intimate shooting techniques are often imitated but never bettered. Whether shooting campaigns for Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood and Céline or editorials for AnOther, System and Vogue; the unforgiving on-camera flash and defiantly unretouched nature of his work defies easy categorisation, questioning conventional notions of beauty along the way.
Anna Molinari Catalogue, A/W97Courtesy of Idea Books
What? A prolific artist, Teller has published over thirty books, successfully straddling the worlds of art and fashion. David Owen and Angela Hill of fashion’s favourite booksellers, IDEA Books have curated a collection not just of his major publications, but also envy-inducing rare items which goes on sale today for two weeks at Dover Street Market New York. As the first American outpost of the IDEA Books empire; the permanent IDEA space launched at DSMNY in January, with the IDEA Juergen collection representing the first special collection to be held in the new space.
Comme des Garçons, large postcard S/S91Courtesy of Idea Books
Why? Hill first met Teller in the late 1980’s, assisting a fashion editor for Vogue Hommes, before connecting with him again whilst working as a photographer herself in the late 90’s. She says, “When we found a cache of mint copies of his first, and scarcest, publication – a box of prints from 1992 – we knew we had a show.” Only produced in Japan, the simple cardboard box of 31 prints which include classic images from an early fashion story for i-D with styling by Venetia Scott and a portrait of Kurt Cobain forms the centrepiece of the collection which also includes catalogues for Anna Molinari and Blumarine, artwork for New Order, a special edition of Self Service guest-edited by Teller and a 1991 postcard for Commes des Garçons showing two punks kissing. The IDEA Juergen collection offers an invaluable glimpse into the development of his distinctive style with Hill offering, “A lot of people are surprised to see his very early work and how different it is to the images now.”
