Kiss and Teller

Marc Jacobs‘ relationship with Juergen Teller has no doubt been a longstanding and fruitful one. Together, they’ve created a series of compelling images unlike any other. Well, this month Steidl is publishing those images in a book so you can start throwing away your magazine clippings. Juergen Teller: Marc Jacobs Advertising 1998-2009 chronicles all of Teller’s shots for Marc Jacobs, starting from Spring/Summer 1998 ’til now. The Independent conducted a rather entertaining interview with the photographer, who apparently was shameless enough to cast himself in one of the campaigns just so that he could pose in bed with Charlotte Rampling.

On the perks of working with legendary designers...

“They are all their own boss, if you like. Marc Jacobs may be part of a big corporation now that LVMH is involved but he pulls the strings. You don’t have an art director, a creative director, a CEO on the shoot. What Helmut says goes, what Rei says goes, what Vivienne says goes, what Marc says goes. I like that direct approach, where if something goes wrong we only have ourselves to blame. I like that kind of relationship with a person who responds to my work, admires and understands it. Of course I take the whole thing seriously but I couldn’t do a job where I didn’t have any fun, and just to make money.”

On the much talked about Victoria Beckham campaign…

“I think at the time we shot her, she may well have been the most-photographed woman in the world. It would have been very easy to laugh at her but it was very important to Marc and myself that she was laughing with us. She immediately said ‘yes’ and she was very, very excited and also well-informed. She studied my work and knew what it involved.” 

Why he’s no longer ashamed to call himself a fashion photographer…

“I am very pleased to say today that I am a fashion photographer who does other things. They’re just in my head, I need to do them for me. But it’s insane that people say I don’t like fashion just because my pictures look a bit different. Everything is how you dress. Everything. I would never do some sort of stupid picture where everything is dark and you can’t see the fabric or whatever, or crop something badly so you don’t get the right impression of a garment. I did have my problems with fashion before, maybe. As a heterosexual man, I was always a bit embarrassed of being a fashion photographer and didn’t have the confidence to describe myself that way. Now I do have the confidence. It’s a weird thing to do, I know, but I just kind of got into it and I think I do it very well.”

Photos: via The Independent