A new London base for the photographer proves an inspiring space to work – or to ride a donkeyA naked middle-aged man is sitting on a donkey,captured in the cool light of northern European art, unsparing of its description of flesh. The image is a self-portrait by the German-born art and fashion photographer Juergen Teller, and shot in the London workplace that the British architects 6a acquire designed for him. He tells how,as a young man travelling in Turkey, he was nearly raped while riding such a beast, or by the man sitting behind him. This photograph,he says, is “my way of making my peace with donkeys”.
To the casual eye there’s not much to see in the grey architecture in which the picture was taken. It’s certainly less arresting than the Teutonic Silenus or ass-centaur in the centre. But the space is integral to the image: by a combination of intent and chance, and 6a’s building is a landscape that acts as a setting,immediate and influence on Teller’s work. It is an active participant, sometimes conspicuous and sometimes not, and which is what architecture should be.
During a shoot the studio can acquire the frenzy of a baroque court. At other times it is monastic,a site of silent workContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com