Love him or hate him (!) there is no way to escape the ubiquitous presence of Karl Lagerfeld. The 82 year old German fashion legend, based in Paris, is the head designer and creative director of the fashion house Chanel as well as the Italian house Fendi and his own fashion label. Over the decades, he has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art-related projects, and in the past few years has been establishing something of a reputation as a photographer who is not shy about doing self portraits.
Despite Lagerfeld's impressive productivity as a photographer, he only took his first professional photos in 1987, then ironically more out of necessity than choice. "I would never have thought of making photos myself, if my friend, Eric Pfrunder, Director of Image at Chanel Fashion, had not one day pressed me to do so when he urgently needed photos for a press kit. Today photography is part of my life. It completes the circle between my artistic and professional restlessness."
Now his impressive body of work is about to be exhibited at La Pinacothèque de Paris in a show titled Karl Lagerfeld : A Visual Journey. The exhibition reveals Lagerfeld's many areas of
interest including architecture, landscapes, Paris
by night, portraits and self-portraits, fashion
photography, and abstractions (an interest in the
graphic characterizes many of his photos, regardless
of their subject). Two grand photo installations -
Daphnis and Chloe and Le Voyage d'Ulysse - complete this comprehensive display of Lagerfeld's photographic oeuvre.
Karl Lagerfeld : A Visual Journey.
16th October 2015 - 20th March 2016.
Information and tickets from http://www.pinacotheque.com/
