Juergen Teller navigates the boundary of art and commercial photography, putting the portrait at the heart of things. Whether in the realms of music, fashion, everyday life or landscape, his distinctive feel for individuals and situations allows him to create visual compositions with an immediacy that is sometimes deceptively simple. On closer inspection, his seemingly laid-back and casual imagery proves to be artistically crafted and full of verve. Deliberately breaking with convention to challenge our ways of seeing and undermine our preconceptions, Juergen Teller does not indulge in sentimentalised visual strategies. Through the intimacy of his portraiture, he orchestrates some quite extraordinary photographic encounters.
Juergen Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich. In 1986, he moved to London as a freelance photographer, where he started taking pictures for music, lifestyle and fashion magazines. His breakthrough came in 1991 when he accompanied the band Nirvana on their Nevermind release tour and his photographs of the shy lead singer Kurt Cobain were published. Juergen Teller (born 1964) is one of today’s most internationally renowned photographers and his works, often in the form of large-scale series, are widely published in books and magazines.
An exhibition by Bundeskunsthalle Bonn and Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin, in cooperation with Galerie Rudolfinum Prague and Fotomuseum Winterthur.
Kindly supported by Ringier AG, Volkart Foundation and the Friends’ Association Fotomuseum Winterthur.