GUY BOURDIN: IMAGE MAKER │ Somerset House, London

“Ɖ YC’z ljst evr xibišn v ɖ influenšl n enigmatc fašnftogṛfr Gi Bŭrdĩ, fīčrñ ovr 100 wrcs n prīvı̣sli unsin mtirı̣l fṛm ɖ ftogṛfr’z istet, fṛm 1955 t 1987. Ɖs mêjr šo čāts Bŭrdĩ’z dstnĝšt 40-yir c̣rir, fṛm Man Re’z proṭže t ftogṛfīreṿlušnri in hiz ôn rît, n xplorz hiz psyt v pfẋn. Ɖ xibitd wrcs xmplifî ɖ craftsmnšp bhnd hiz imijz, fṛm pṛduẋn t publicešn, n ɖer indyrñ qoḷti az a consiqns.

Gi Bŭrdĩ’z editwrı̣l n advtîzñ imijri repriznt a hîpýnt in lêt twentiiʈ senčri fašnftogṛfi. Hiz wrc tc ɖ bêsic funẋn v ɖ fašnfôṭgraf – t sel cloɖñ, byti n axeṣriz – n md it intu smʈñ rič n strenj. Bŭrdĩ dd ɖs wɖt rzwtñ t xotisizm; instd, h istablišt ɖ îdīa ɖt ɖ product z secndri t ɖ imij. Fṛm hiz pṛfešnl dêby fr Paris Vôg in ɖ 1950z, Bŭrdĩ dveḷpt a dstnctv stîl v vižl stwrītelñ, ẇč cntinyz t srv az a sws v inspirešn t cntmprri fašnftogṛfrz fṛm Tim Wōcr t Nic Nait.

Kretd bî Alister O’Nīl wɖ Šeli Vertīm, ɖ xibišn includz ovr 100 culr xibišnprints v Bŭrdĩ’z most significnt wrcs, az wel az ŕli n lêt wrcs in blac n ẇît ɖt srv t čalinj Bŭrdĩ’z repytešn az a culrftogṛfr. Ɖs z complimentd bî a renj v uɖr fôṭgrafic mtirı̣lz: ynīc Pôḷrýd testšots, dubl-pêj spred lêâts, contactšīts n trnspaṛnsiz māct fr comṗzišn ɖt xplor Bŭrdĩ’z craftsmnšp az an imijmêcr n ɖ prôsesz involvd in pṛdysñ stātlñ n pṛvoc̣tv imijri in a prīdijitl êj. It olso hîlîts Bŭrdĩ az a paynir v fašnfilm, šôcêsñ a renj v Sūpr-8 filmz h md at ɖ sem tîm az hiz on-lcešn fôtôšūts.

Ɖ xibišn olso fīčrz a ṣlẋn v pêntñz, wrcñdrōñz, scečz n nôtbcs, nt sīn in ɖ YC bfr, ẇč infwm hiz aproč az a comṗzišnl imijmêcr n mtikḷs draftsmn. A hîlît z ɖ Wōcñlegz siriz – a campen cmišnd bî Šāl Žŭrdã in 1979 xibitd in its intîṛti fr ɖ frst tîm wɖ a yt unsin acumṗniyñ fašnfilm.”