Monday, 1 December 2014

01/12/14 - GUY BOURDIN PROJ. (Exhibition Review + Chosen Image)

Charles Jourdan Spring 1978 - Guy Bourdin 
In order to fully understand Bourdin's work, we went to the exhibition at Somerset House which showed a collection of photographs and films as well as a number of technical drawings and Polaroids that were used in his image-making process. When going around the exhibition, I noticed some common themes within Bourdin's work and whilst I was captivated by a number of his images, a small number of them were also disturbing and uncomfortable, which in itself is not a bad thing.

With a glamorous and sometimes objectifying portrayal of women, Bourdin's work seemed at times a little too risqué, bordering erotic. Whilst I usually wouldn't have a problem with that (especially given the era these photographs were taken in), there was still something uncomfortable about a few of the photographs. 

Aside from that, his images spoke to me mostly for their somewhat abstract and simple nature. As an avid lover of simplicity in everything from the way I dress to the way I lay out my sketchbook, I was drawn to the composition of the photographs and choosing a favourite to use as inspiration for an editorial proved to be a difficult decision. Bourdin's images are often either in black and white or heavily saturated in colour and whilst I liked the use of brights to highlight the product he was endorsing, the high saturation of colour is something that, as a creative myself, I tend not to replicate.


My final chosen image is from the Spring 1978 campaign for Charles Jourdan. The feelings I've gathered from the photograph tie in well for a SS15 editorial and on top of that, I didn't want to produce anything dark in colour similar to my last project. By choosing this photo, I'm able to return to my roots and have fun with my favourite colour palette too- blue.  


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