Above January 1978. (©Guy Bourdin/Guy Bourdin Archives/Estate of Guy Bourdin/Reproduced by permission/Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery).

One of the most influential fashion photographers of the twentieth-century, Guy Bourdin (1928-1991) blended the surreal with the erotic to create his own distinct and highly unique brand of narrative-infused imagery, that would fill the pages of French Vogue; from his first, and highly provocative editorial feature in 1955 — that depicted haute couture alongside recently butchered cow heads — through to the eighties, he pushed the very limits of fashion photography into new and often foreign territory. Whilst at the same time his images became synonymous with the advertising of shoe designer Charles Jourdan, for whom he created one of the most visually iconic campaigns of all time. 

Above Photo France, July 1987. (©Guy Bourdin/Estate of Guy Bourdin/Reproduced by permission/Courtesy of Michael Hoppen Gallery).

Bourdin realised that it is not fashion itself that seduces people but the fantasy it represents. Psychodrama and the theatre of the absurd pervade his work; a true master of the storyboard, he rigorously planned his compositions for fashion shoots to suit the format of the printed page. Conceived long before the advent of digital retouching, he went to tremendous lengths to produce highly stylised images, often pushing his models to their limits to achieve his desired vision.

Twenty years after his death, Bourdin — who Alison Gingeras described as ‘a courageous single artist, as opposed to a mere commercial photographer,’ in her 2006 monograph (Phaidon Press) — remains a highly potent influence, with his vision continuing to reverberate through the world of fashion and fashion photography.

Guy Bourdin is at Michael Hoppen Contemporary, London, until 5 April 2012.