Today we went to the Guy Bourdin exhibition at Somerset House. I was quite looking forward for this project because I like Guy Bourdin's photography. The goal of the was to produce a photoshoot based on one photography of our choice and the photo shoot must had a story, a narrative. My pick was this one:
I picked this one because I loved the colours, the concept, how the legs were and the line of the underwear that gave a whole new definition to the legs. The colours made me think of Mickey Mouse for a while. I liked the line that divided the floor from the wall. Something that I thought for a second could mean something else. So, to get more information about him and his work I watched a documentary called "Dreamgirls - the photographies of Guy Bourdin" and I learned a lot about his techniques, his personality, that his women are usually in very interesting positions and they usually look pretty dead, but with extreme make-up. Quite the extreme, they are so dead but looking so alive. His mother abandon him when he was younger and according to the movie, that's one of the reasons why his image of women is the way it is. I learned about Man Ray, Helmut Newton and his surrealistic inspirations. After watching the film I went for the books and because I couldn't find an actual book about him I went and researched his inspirations and Newton and Ray. I didn't want to use other artists for inspiration but I wanted to get the feeling of his time and from his inspiration get to him. Except that Newton's women are quite strong and powerful and not dead. So I had to be really careful not to run too far from Bourdin. But then, I came across this image:
It's Newton's, but I could see some resemblance with Bourdin's work. The position of the bodies, how the lady who is laying on the floor, for example, she doesn't have a face and she looks pretty dead and how the "standing" lady also doesn't have a face and it's only legs. I could use that image and create a narrative with it, a murder scene maybe. Then I had a nice chat with one of the tutors and he said it was a good idea, but advised me to be careful not to go too far from Bourdin. So, my idea was set, a murder scene, maybe some blood, two models (a killer and a victim), I could use shoes as my accessory because that's the idea you get from the image. The focus is on their feet. Spring/summer would be my trend because there are more statement sandals during those seasons and finally, I-D as my magazine, because I saw a couple of photos that reminded me of Bourdin, specially with the heavy and colourful make-up and the simple locations but powerful images. Now all I need is to put the pieces together. I'm going to do more research about all the elements and maybe go back to the exhibition.