Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller (born 28 January 1964) is a German fine-art and fashion photographer. He was awarded the Citibank Prize for Photography in 2003 and received the Special Presentation International Center of Photography Infinity Award in 2018.

Major solo exhibitions of his work have been organised at Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain, Paris (2006); Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2010); Dallas Contemporary, TX (2011); Daelim Museum, Seoul (2011); Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2013); Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin (2015); Kunsthalle Bonn, Germany (2016), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (2018), Grand Palais Éphémère, Paris (2023). Self-portraiture has been a prominent feature of his practice and was the main focus of his 'Macho' exhibition at DESTE Foundation, Athens, Greece (2014).

Education
Teller studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich, Germany (1984–1986). In order to avoid military national service he learned English and moved to London in 1986, aged 22.

Career
Since the beginning his career in the late 1980s, Teller has blurred the boundaries between his commissioned and personal work in his numerous campaigns, editorials, publications and exhibitions. Teller treats all of his subjects—family members, celebrities, and himself with a uniform style of grit, raw emotion and humour that has become his iconic and recognizable aesthetic.

His photographs have appeared in Arena Homme +, The Face, i-D, 032c, Pop, Purple, Self Service, W, Vogue (American, Australian, British, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish) and Zeit magazin among others. He photographed Kylie Minogue for the artwork of her 1991 album Let's Get to It. Teller first gained wider recognition in 1996 with his front cover of Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazine featuring a nude Kristen McMenamy with the word ‘Versace’ drawn in a heart across her chest.

In 1997, Marc Jacobs worked with Teller's then-partner, Venetia Scott to style his collections and Teller shot Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth for the Spring Summer 1998 campaign. For the brand's 2005 campaign, he photographed himself with Cindy Sherman and also collaborated with Winona Ryder, Sofia Coppola, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Stipe, Rufus Wainwright and Harmony Korine amongst others until the SS2014 campaign. Teller has also collaborated with a range of other designers and fashion houses during his career, including Helmut Lang, Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood, Céline, Missoni, Moschino, Barney's, Louis Vuitton, Adidas, Palace and Valentino.

Teller has photographed many celebrities, musicians, artists and photographers, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, O. J. Simpson, Kurt Cobain, Bjork, Kate Moss, Elton John, Pelé, David Hockney, Roni Horn, Sarah Lucas, William Eggleston, Boris Mikhailov and Araki Nobuyoshi. He photographed American rapper Kanye West for T: The New York Times Style Magazine and shot the 'Kanye, Juergen and Kim' supplement for System featuring Kanye West and Kim Kardashian as well as himself in 2015. The actress Charlotte Rampling has been a long term collaborator, appearing in Teller's Louis XV series which was exhibited at Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin and published by Steidl as a book in 2005, and the Paradis photographs shot at Musée du Louvre in 2009.

Teller has directed several fashion films, short films and artist videos including Can I Own Myself (1998), Go-Sees (2001), World Cup Final, Germany 0 Brazil 2 London (2002), Schmetterling' (2005) and Dieter (2017).

Teaching
Teller was Professor of Photography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg from 2014 to 2019.

Curating
In 2016, Teller curated an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe's photographs at Alison Jacques Gallery in London where he selected 58 images from the Mapplethorpe Foundation collection.

Personal life
Teller was married to UK contemporary art dealer Sadie Coles from 2003 to 2018. Teller married Dovile Drizyte in 2021.

Publications

 * Juergen Teller. Cologne: Taschen, 1996
 * Der verborgene Brecht. Ein Berliner Stadtrundgang. Zurich: Scalo, 1998
 * Go-Sees: Girls Knocking on My Door. Zurich: Scalo, 1999. ISBN 978-3908247142.
 * Remake Berlin. Steidl Verlag, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Bank Hofmann AG, 1999
 * Tracht.Göttingen: Steidl/Lehmann Maupin Gallery, 2001
 * More. Göttingen: Steidl, 2001
 * Märchenstüberl. Göttingen: Steidl, 2002
 * Zwei Schäuferle mit Kloß und eine Kinderportion Schnitzel mit Pommes Frites. Göttingen: Steidl, 2003
 * Nackig auf dem Fußballplatz. Göttingen: Steidl, 2003
 * Louis XV. Göttingen: Steidl, 2004
 * Ich bin Vierzig. Göttingen: Steidl, 2004
 * The Master. Göttingen: Steidl, 2004
 * Ohne Titel. Göttingen: Steidl, 2005
 * Nürnberg. Göttingen: Steidl, 2006
 * Ed in Japan. Paris: Purple publications, 2006
 * Jürgen Teller, Do You Know What I Mean. Exhibition catalogue. Paris: Foundation Cartier pour l'art contemporain/London-New York: Thames & Hudson, 2006
 * Juergen Teller Vivienne Westwood, Spring Summer 2008. Göttingen: Steidl, 2008
 * Election Day, Vivienne Westwood, Spring Summer 2009. Göttingen: Steidl, 2009
 * Juergen Teller: Marc Jacobs Advertising 1997-2008. Göttingen: Steidl, 2008
 * The Master II. Göttingen: Steidl, 2010
 * Zimmermann. Göttingen: Steidl, 2010
 * The Deste Foundation Collection. Göttingen: Steidl, 2010
 * Get a Life, Vivienne Westwood Spring Summer 2010. Göttingen: Steidl, 2010
 * Calves and Thighs. TF Editore, 2010
 * Touch Me. Reel, 2011
 * Hotel Il Pellicano. Italy: Slim Arons, John Swope, Juergen Teller, Rizzoli 2011
 * Common Ground. Marsilio Editoria, 2012
 * The Keys to the House. Göttingen: Steidl, 2012
 * Pictures and Text Göttingen: Steidl, 2012
 * The Master III Göttingen: Steidl, 2012
 * Woo! Juergen Teller Steidl and ICA, 2013
 * Eating at Hotel Il Pellicano. Violette Editions, 2013
 * Kolkata. The Juergen Teller Purple Book, Purple Institute, 2014
 * I'm Fifty. Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris, 2014
 * Araki Teller, Teller Araki., Eyesencia, 2014. With Nobuyoshi Araki
 * I Just Arrived in Paris. (Louis Vuitton AW2014), Göttingen: Steidl, 2014
 * Siegerflieger Göttingen: Steidl, 2015
 * The Flow. (Louis Vuitton SS2015), Göttingen: Steidl, 2015
 * Season Three. (Louis Vuitton AW2015), Göttingen: Steidl, 2015
 * The Clinic. Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, 2015
 * Mit dem Teller nach Bonn. Steidl/Bundeskunsthalle, 2016
 * Boris Mikhailov, Parliament. Rodovid, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2017
 * Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler, Juergen Teller. In Other Words, 2017
 * Leg, Snails and Peaches. Suzanne Tarasieve, Paris, 2018
 * The Master IV. Göttingen: Steidl, 2019
 * Handbags. Göttingen: Steidl, 2019
 * Mmm!. Göttingen: Steidl, 2019
 * TELLER ABLOH. Fine Print/Prestel, 2019
 * 50 Times Bonami and Obrist. Göttingen: Steidl, 2019
 * Plumtree Court. Göttingen: Steidl, 2020
 * Leben und Tod: Nobuyoshi Araki and Juergen Teller. Göttingen: Steidl, 2020
 * The Nipple, Annual Series No.7. Oakland California: TBW, 2020
 * William Eggleston 414. Göttingen: Steidl, 2020. With Harmony Korine. ISBN 978-3-95829-763-0.
 * Donkey Man and Other Stories. New York: Rizzoli, 2021. ISBN 978-0-8478-7077-6.
 * Auguri. Göttingen: Steidl, 2022. With Dovile Drizyte. ISBN 978-3-96999-093-3.
 * Notes About My Work. Göttingen: Steidl, 2022. ISBN 978-3-96999-135-0.
 * The Master V. Göttingen: Steidl, 2022. ISBN 978-3-96999-134-3.

Awards

 * 2003: Citibank Prize for Photography
 * 2018: Special Presentation, International Center of Photography Infinity Award

Solo exhibitions

 * 1998	Juergen Teller, The Photographers' Gallery, London
 * 2002	Märchenstüberl, Münchner Stadtmuseum, Germany
 * 2002	Märchenstüberl, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
 * 2003	Märchenstüberl, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
 * 2003	Märchenstüberl, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands
 * 2003	Tracht, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
 * 2004	Go-sees and World cup Final, Germany v Brazil 0-2 Temple Bar Visual Arts, Dublin, Ireland
 * 2004	Ich bin Vierzig, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
 * 2006	Do You Know What I Mean, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris
 * 2007	Awailable, Inverleith House, Edinburgh, Scotland
 * 2009	Teller, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands
 * 2009	Logisch, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany
 * 2010	Touch Me, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
 * 2011	Man with Banana, Dallas Contemporary, US
 * 2011	Texte und Bilder, Moscow House of Photography, Russia
 * 2011	Texte und Bilder, Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania
 * 2012	Bilder und Texte, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, London, UK
 * 2013  Woo!, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
 * 2014	Bus Stops, Strand, London
 * 2014	Macho, Deste Foundation, Athens, Greece
 * 2016	Enjoy Your Life!, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany
 * 2016	Enjoy Your Life!, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
 * 2017	Enjoy Your Life!, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
 * 2017 	Juergen Teller, Kunstpalais Erlangen, Germany
 * 2017	Juergen Teller, Great Arch Hall, Photo London, Somerset House, London
 * 2018	Enjoy Your Life!, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
 * 2018  Zittern auf dem Sofa, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia
 * 2019 Handbags, Museo Villa Pignatelli, Naples, Italy
 * 2019 Heimweh, Konig Tokio x MCM Ginza Haus I, Tokyo
 * 2021 What Are We Talking About?, T-10, Beijing, China
 * 2023 I need to live, Grand Palais, Paris, France

Curated exhibitions

 * 2016 	Teller on Mapplethorpe, Alison Jacques Gallery, London

Selected Group exhibitions

 * Citibank Photography Prize, The Photographers Gallery, London (2003)
 * The Kate Show, The Foam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2006)
 * 2007: represented Ukraine as one of five artists in the 52nd Venice Biennale
 * Street & Studio: An Urban History of Photography, Tate Modern, London (2008)
 * Not in Fashion, MMK Museum, Frankfürt, Germany (2010)
 * Night in Twilight: Art from Romanticism to the Present, Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria (2012)
 * Riotous Baroque, Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland (2012), toured to Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain (2013)
 * Paparazzi! Photographers, Stars and Artists, Centre Pompidou, Metz, France (2014)
 * Faces Now: European Portrait Photography Since 1990, BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, toured to Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, and National Museum of Photography, Thessaloniki, Greece (2015-2016)
 * VOGUE 100: A Century of Style, National Portrait Gallery, London and Manchester Art Gallery (2016)
 * La Vie Simple - Simplement la Vie, Fondation Vincent van Gogh, Arles, France (2017)
 * Icons of Style: A Century of Fashion Photography 1911-2011, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2018)
 * The Exhausted Man, Swiss National Museum, Zurich, Switzerland (2020)
 * E/Motion. Fashion in Transition, MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp, Belgium (2021)
 * Captivate! Fashion Photography from the 1990s. Curated by Claudia Schiffer, Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany (2021)
 * Vogue Paris-100 years-1920-2020, Palais Galliera, Paris, France (2021)

Collections
Teller's work is held in the following permanent collections:
 * Centre Pompidou, Paris
 * Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris
 * Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt
 * National Portrait Gallery, London: 3 prints (as of January 2021)
 * Victoria and Albert Museum, London: 4 prints (as of January 2021)