{"id":942,"date":"2010-08-30T19:59:43","date_gmt":"2010-08-30T17:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/?p=942"},"modified":"2017-06-22T15:53:17","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T13:53:17","slug":"juergen-teller-talks-to-filep-motwary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/942\/juergen-teller-talks-to-filep-motwary\/","title":{"rendered":"Juergen Teller talks to Filep Motwary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Self-portrait as Santa Claus \u00a9 Juergen Teller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I first met Juergen Teller at a lunch at Caf\u00e9 Marly in Paris in 2004. He had recently shot Charlotte Rampling for the new issue of POP magazine, and five minutes later, in walked Miss Rampling herself. I had not met her before, but I did not think to introduce myself: I felt I already knew her, from Teller\u2019s intimate, opulent photographs. That was just before Steidl published his book Louis XV, another collaboration between Teller and Rampling. We met once more to talk flash, flesh and feeling.<\/p>\n

[br]<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You first caught the eye of the fashion world with your grunge-inspired photos for The Face, back in the early 1990s. How far have you come?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am wiser. Not so na\u00efve, but still fresh. Still very much in control of what I want to do.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What have you learned from working with Marc Jacobs?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our collaboration is 11 years old. I think all I learned from Marc grew out of the trust he gives me. He leaves me alone to solve the \u201cproblem\u201d of how to photograph this \u2013 and he believes in me. And that makes me try very hard \u2013 to push myself. This inspires me as a human being.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What do you think gives the Marc Jacobs campaigns such oomph?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

They are very clear and consistent in their message. They are individual \u2013 they have a sense of humor. You are able to identify with the person in the photograph. You are able to aspire to be that person. To be that person. Oh, and I make the clothes and accessories look good.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Louis XV was shocking for some. How did you feel about the reactions? What did you want to achieve with it at the time? What do you see as you look back on it today?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was an adventure. And so it was fun. It was a journey on which I wanted to go, and I still see it as such. If you feel something that you want to do,<\/p>\n

you are incapable of thinking about what other people might think. You go and you do it.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you respond to criticism when you hear it in person?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It can be tough. You have to listen to them, if they make sense. I try to learn from it \u2013 and learn away from it. There is a lot of stupid criticism I\u2019m just not interested in.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You could have chosen any other type of photography, and yet fashion is where you\u2019re at. Why?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m not just doing fashion photography. But somehow it suits me. I enjoy it. Really.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the Teller team like? How do you choose your assistants?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have only one full-time photographic assistant. As for the rest? Good, honest human beings.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where is the power in fashion photography?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

To help sell the product. It can inspire; it can criticize.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

So fashion can be a political statement? In an economic crisis, for example?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course it can! But most of the time, you just don\u2019t read so much into it. You just turn the page.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What if I asked you to describe some of the people you shoot?<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to label them; they are all complex, wonderful human beings.<\/p>\n

Motwary:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is that why your subjects appear to be ageless? They all seem immersed in a deep, timeless emotional state.<\/p>\n

Teller:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know. I just do it; I can\u2019t really explain it.<\/p>\n

[br]<\/p>\n

Interview originally published in Dapper Dan<\/em>, Issue 01, March 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I first met Juergen Teller at a lunch at Caf\u00e9 Marly in Paris in 2004. He had recently shot Charlotte Rampling for the new issue of POP magazine, and five minutes later, in walked Miss Rampling herself. I had not met her before, but I did not think to introduce myself: I felt I already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[33,38,34],"class_list":["post-942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-01","tag-fashion","tag-interviews","tag-photography"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8QZgE-fc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=942"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2741,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/942\/revisions\/2741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dapperdanmagazine.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}