French photographer Guy Bourdin’s fashion photography was one of the genre’s most pioneering. From his 1950s heyday at Paris Vogue in the 1950s through to the 1980s, he was arguably responsible for much of what contemporary fashion produces now, inspiring everyone from Tim Walker to Nick Knight. With a focus on the concept that the product is secondary to the image, he was able to turn the ordinary and functional into the extraordinary.
Much of his work is currently in a giant exhibition at Somerset House featuring 200 works, from black and white shots to Polaroid test shots, contact sheets and transparencies and previously unseen material from his estate. As the exhibition draws to an end, the Guardian’s fashion editor, Jess Cartner-Morley, will be in conversation with Alistair O’Neill, curator of the exhibition, next week at Somerset House.
The event is taking place at Somerset House on Wednesday 4 March 2015 at 7pm. Book tickets here
