Don't Miss: Guy Bourdin at Studio des Acacias
On an April morning in Paris as the early spring sun shines above the Arc de Triomphe, studio lights are beaming to highlight the works of French photographer Guy Bourdin on the nearby Rue des Acacias. In a month-long exhibition entitled “The Portraits,” Studio des Acacias welcomes visitors to see the progression of Bourdin’s career from 1950 through 1980.
Curated into three different themes, the exhibition stretches out across the three studio floors. Once was the “second home” to many legendary photographers, including Irving Penn, Richard Avedon and Bourdin himself, Studio des Acacias in the 17th arrondissement has transformed into a space showcasing Bourdin’s enigmatic creativity.
The ground floor housess his most famous shots – a nude toddler swathed in Van Cleef & Arpels diamonds, red-lacquered nails covering a model’s eyes – many of which appeared in Vogue Paris, his long-time collaborator. Avant-garde, erotic, sensual, sexy yet not vulgar, each photograph seems to be its own still life in the presence of unconventional settings, props and exaggerated color saturation.
Ground floor. Image Credit: Duc Dinh.
Upstairs, the first floor suspends the stylized character of Bourdin’s fashion shoots to offer something entirely different: Black and white photos candidly capturing Parisian daily life. In one photo, a man waits at a familiar Metro stop; in another, a couple walks across the Palais-Royal, evoking the Paris of Godard and Truffaut in Nouvelle Vague cinema. Some photos are specially wrapped in envelopes with Bourdin’s own captions.
Parisian life through Bourdin's lens. Image Credit: Studio des Acacias.
The top floor features the photographer’s work for British shoemaker Charles Jourdan. In 1979, Bourdin embarked on a quest across England, from London to Brighton, to shoot Jourdan’s Autumn campaign. Accompanying him were his wife, his son, his assistant and a few pairs of mannequin legs – in a black Cadillac, no less. There was no need for models, as the self-walking legs held their own on the English landscape. Framing the photos above a reflective black surface, the studio sneakily invites visitors to reflect their own legs and footwear against Bourdin’s colorful images.
Top floor. Image Credit: Duc Dinh.
Fashion stylist Martine de Menthon, who worked with Bourdin on many projects, recalls the photographer’s out-of-this-world requests on set. From veal heads to glass coffins, there were no limits to Bourdin’s imagination, and to be sure, all of his ludicrous demands met the end of executing his visions. The results were photographs impregnated with surrealism and their own visual language, a “Bourdinesque” aesthetic that can be seen today with David Lynch and David LaChapelle.
For all the overt sexuality and voyeurism of Bourdin’s images, it might be surprising to know that the photographer was actually a rather timid man. According to de Menthon, Bourdin would shy his eyes away from female models as they were undressing. Then moments later, behind the camera, he would go on to photograph them with nothing but exquisite jewels to clothe their bodies.
Unlike Avedon or Helmut Newton, Bourdin, in his humility, never took the effort to immortalize his photography. He rejected the idea of publishing books or hosting exhibitions, and even turned down the Grand Prix National de la Photographie from the French government. But today, 25 years after his death, Studio des Acacias has decided to showcase some of his most iconic works. And it is no wonder why.
Studio des Acacias
30 Rue des Acacias, 75017 Paris
Public exhibition from April 2 to April 30, 2016
Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 6:30 pm
