Born in Paris in 1928, Bourdin rose to prominence in the post-war era with visuals that focused on desire, provocation and tension. The artist was largely self-taught, though was mentored early on by visual artist Man Ray, who shaped Bourdin’s lifelong embrace of Surrealism.
Bourdin’s breakthrough came in 1955 when his first commission appeared in French Vogue. His photographs challenged conventional notions of luxury, instead placing models in hyperreal environments with bodies cropped and faces obscured. Bourdin’s bold use of colour and ambiguous narratives created images that focused on the atmosphere a photograph evoked as much as the clothing items. US Vogue noted of Bourdin’s photography: ‘In his glossy netherworld, beauty was extreme, and fantasy was grotesque and sometimes macabre.’
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bourdin developed a close collaboration with the French shoe brand Charles Jourdan. The campaigns he produced during this period were seen as revolutionary within advertising history as the products were secondary to the story. Bourdin's sets were highly orchestrated with every prop, gesture and shadow meticulously planned.
During his career, as well as working for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, Bourdin shot ad campaigns for Chanel, Pentax, Bloomingdale’s and Claude Montana. The artist closely controlled his career during his lifetime, maintaining selection of final prints and never staging an exhibition of his colour photography. He even turned down the Grand Prix National de la Photographie, awarded by the French government.
Bourdin died in 1991, yet his influence continues to reverberate across fashion photography. Retrospectives for the artist have been held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Jeu de Paume in Paris and at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
French Vogue , March 1972
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, Spring 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Guy Bourdin Archives, 1978
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, January 1978
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, Spring 1978
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, Spring 1978
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, Summer 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Charles Jourdan, Autumn 1977
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
For Charles Jourdan, Spring 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Chapeau-Choc, 1954
GUY BOURDIN (1928–1991)
Vogue Hommes - June/July, 1977
Guy Bourdin (1928-1991)
Ellen von Unwerth for Dior Fashion, c. 1980
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
UNTITLED, NOVEMBER 1979
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Advertising image for Chanel, 1988
GUY BOURDIN (1928–1991)
Ellen von Unwerth for Dior Fashion, c. 1980
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Hommage à Hitchcock, c. 1962
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Toto (Antonio, Prince of Curtis), 1955
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
L'Horizon du Soir le Noir, 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion studies, including Les robes drapées de Madame Grès , French Vogue , 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Grès -- le soir, des robes sculptées, 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Le soir -- des robes fendues sur la jambe ou sur un pantalon, 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Dior Fashion, c. 1980
GUY BOURDIN (1928–1991)
Vogue Hommes - June/July, 1977
GUY BOURDIN (1928–1991)
Guy Bourdin's Archive, c. 1970s
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
A Cinecittá, en plein incendie de cinéma, 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Untitled, 1976
GUY BOURDIN (1928–1991)
Charles Jourdan, shoe campaign, Spring, 1979
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion study, French Vogue , circa 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion Studies for Vogue , c. 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion study (Minstrels and models), French Vogue , c. 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion studies, including three pairs with figures in movement, 1970s
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion study, French Vogue , c. 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
Fashion Study, French Vogue , c. 1975
GUY BOURDIN (1928-1991)
The Wall of the Studio of André Derain at Chambourcy, novembre 1954