Since the late 1980s, German-born photographer, Juergen Teller has cultivated an individualistic photography style by blending an avant-garde aesthetic with grit, and subtle humor. Through his lens, Teller celebrates fashion in a refreshing manner. Ditching the themes of glitz and glam, the photographer’s storytelling images capture raw emotion in a familiar or minimalistic setting.

By the mid-90s, Teller’s success began to flourish, shooting campaigns for luxury brands such as Helmut Lang, Vivianne Westwood, Jil Sander, Marc Jacobs and Yves Saint Laurent. Involved in these campaigns were models ranging from Victoria Beckham to Kate Moss.

With these collaborations, Teller began to transform the idea of what a fashion campaign could stand for. Throughout the 90s, he bended the rules of fashion photography straying away from refined glossy images popular in the 80s, to authentic candid imagery that related to a more progressive and genuine audience.

In 2015, Teller’s portrait of 80-year-old writer Joan Didion for a Celine ad turned heads as he chose to portray an elder woman's face for the campaign over a younger one, which the fashion media is so saturated with. The portrait goes deeper than just Didion’s face. It represents Didion’s consistent poise and presence in an age that is overtaken by cultural chaos. The 2015 Celine ad is just one example of Teller’s methods to extend a photograph's meaning beyond the visuals, alluding to motifs and ideas present in society at the time. Teller’s organic style brings viewers back down to Earth helping them see the dignity in reality while connecting with his imperfect portraiture.

Comparable to utilizing Didion as a main campaign character, Teller photographed Vivienne Westwood's Spring/Summer 2008 campaign, using Westwood, then in her late 60’s, as a model. Keeping with his unusual approaches, it was an uncommon tactic to include the actual designer or creative director in the campaign photography. Including Westwood in the campaign breathed life into the clothing line by shedding light on not just the clothes themselves but the background and deeper significance of the designs. The campaign images, later turned into a coffee table book, include unconventional beauty, Westwood’s signature red-do, quirky props and unbridled emotion coming together to create a project that is representative of Teller’s playful techniques. Each fashion ensemble pops out against a white backdrop and is enhanced with vivid color in tropical birds and bunches of bananas.

Juergen Teller: Handbags is another coffee table book celebrating the image maker’s immersive yet casual aesthetic. 600 pages thick, the volume displays the timeless handbag accessory represented through Teller’s eyes. Marked with brilliant vibrance, each light-saturated image takes on a personality as handbags are portrayed by models from Binx Walton to Kaia Gerber. With subjects clutching Celine, Prada, Louis Viutton and more, each image is individualistic in style and composition detailed with beautiful texture and depth. The book is not only a wonderful dedication to the art of handbags and their place in fashion today, but also a strong representation of Teller’s strategies to reflect reality.

Teller continues to separate himself from other photographers in the field by shooting his subjects at peculiar angles, using a harsh flash that creates a washed-out tone, and never retouching his images. Choosing to opt out of photoshop editing, Teller reveals the faults in airbrushed fashion images that promote unachievable beauty standards. Instead, his photos evoke a sense of authenticity viewers can easily relate to instead of a photo that pressures them into wanting to become someone they’re not.

Spotlight: Photographer juergen Teller

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