VEST: Exhibition Review: London - Paolo Roversi and Guy Bourdin (25/02/12)

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Exhibition Review: London - Paolo Roversi and Guy Bourdin (25/02/12)

On 25 Feb 2012 I visited London and dragged my boyfriend to two galleries that were showcasing fashion portraiture; Paolo Roversi at the Wapping Project Bankside in Southwark and Guy Bourdin at the Michael Hoppen Gallery near South Kensington. Though both photographers sharing the interest of fashion their approaches are very dissimilar and was interesting to see two different exhibitions in one day.

Guinevere Van Seenus by Paolo Reversi
Image Source: http://www.1883magazineblog.com/paolo-roversi-at-the-wapping-project-bankside/

Paolo Roversi is renowned for his soft focus, shallow depth of field, ‘rustic’ portraits that have been described as timeless. The models in his images do not look like stereotypical models and are dressed down. I like how he shows their natural beauty and captures ‘rawness’ unlike any photographer I’ve seen. In the above image she is partially nude yet the viewer does not first think this but we are drawn to her alluring expression. This photograph is difficult to date when it was taken as the characteristics do not show anything of this time, hence the ‘timelessness’ to his photographs. Her expression is ethereal yet focused directly at the viewer creating an almost haunting look reminiscing that of the Pictorial era in the late 19th and early 20th century. My two favourite photographs in this exhibition was a black-and-white portrait of Natalia Vodianova and an exquisite large colour print of Guinevere Van Seenus. My boyfriend, (he’s no art expert!) managed to feel these were the most expensive prints on sale, and rightly so: I think these were Reversi’s strongest exhibiting pieces (see below).

Natalia Vodianova by Paolo Reversi
Image Source: http://fashionnews.zalando.co.uk/2011/02/01/my-favourite-ad-photos-from-the-spring-2011-fashion-campaigns/paolo-roversi-natalia-vodenova/

Guinevere Van Seenus by Paolo Reversi
Image Source: http://www.nowness.com/day/2012/1/29/1850/paolo-roversi-my-guinevere

I enjoyed this exhibition as it was displayed in a clean and clear manner; the prints weren’t too big or small and were spread out evenly through a vast white space. The visitor didn’t feel enclosed or too open. Even my boyfriend who isn’t interested in art much, let alone fashion photography was quite impressed with the work.

Later in the day I rushed to the Michael Hoppen Gallery just in time before it closed. The exhibition wasn’t what I expected it to be: it was much smaller and cramped and the prints were hung in distracting places such against a bookshelf full of colourful books. Bourdin is renowned as a master of colour so was a shame to drown out his prints with even more colour and clutter in the exhibition. I hadn’t really researched much of Bourdin’s work before visiting except the knowledge of his erotic photographs. After going to the exhibition I wasn’t too keen on his work as it was too much ‘in your face’ and didn’t allow the viewer to digest the photograph as there was a lot going on. This was a surprise to me as I had read many comparisons between Helmut Newton and Bourdin and I am completely enticed by Newton’s work even naming him as one of my favourite photographers. However Bourdin did stimulate discussion and one must applaud his technical ability using vivid colour which was new at that time. One that I found particularly interesting was ‘Campaign for Charles Jourdan, Spring 1979’ (below) due to the clashing of bold yellow and red and the unusual posture of the female model. Bourdin is commendable on taking fashion photography to new depths and wasn’t afraid of pushing the boundaries of a fashion image thus challenging the expected stood-straight face-on pose to the camera. Though I am not prudent and fully embrace female sexuality represented in fashion photography I did find some of his work quite crude however there were a few pieces that were composed wonderfully with flair.

Campaign for Charles Jourdan, Spring 1979 by Guy Bourdin
Image source: http://lamblegs.wordpress.com/2010/02/13/hot-photo-friday-guy-bourdin/

Though the two photographers are regarding amongst the elite in the fashion world, they have very differing styles and approaches. Overall I preferred the Paolo Reversi exhibition at the Wapping Project Bankside than I did for Guy Bourdin at the Michael Hoppen Gallery. One of the reasons for this was the layout and space at the Reversi exhibition; I was able to absorb his images, feel the model’s expressions and the photographer’s mood. Whilst visiting these exhibitions I was engrossed in my ‘Beauty’ project so couldn’t help but notice the subject matter; both photographers featured nude models and all were Caucasian. Where are the ethnic models? I enjoyed how this day questioned how beauty can be presented in contrasting ways and the power a renowned photographer can have on influencing the new generation on what a beautiful image and model is.

Exhibition photographs I took at the gallery:

Paolo Reversi @ The Wapping Project Bankside