''jason evans, hove: who do you think you are kidding ?
Juergen Teller: Fuck off.''

''Kath, Australia: Do you find your ad work more satisfying or your personal work?
Juergen Teller: What do you think?''

''christine, athens: Do you sleep with your models?
Juergen Teller: Yes, with all of them.''

I like the man, and after a longer thought, i feel bad about what i said. I am fond of Juergen Tellers photographs, and comparing them to, say, Hugo Tillman's work, i feel Teller has a (much) fresher approach. Tillman's work is very nicey nice, classical, little innovation.

Just to clarify - the Tillman comparison was with f:lux's offer of Kate Garner rather than with Teller. Teller and Tillman are vastly different in style - Teller is Gritty, Tillman is Polished.
Pony, I definitely agree that when Teller came along that he stirred up a stagnant pond of classical studio-based photography and really challenged what we thought of as fashion - that I can respect. However, his moment has passed and now we need a new Teller to once again stir up the stagnant pond of Teller imitators.

What I think is interesting is the collaboration between the clothes designer and the photographer. Or is it a collaboration? Perhaps not (creatively speaking). It would appear they are rather powerful. What are their directives? I mean what is Mr Teller thinking when he shoots a Marc Jacobs ad or a line up of girls in metallic leather? Of course this is a somewhat vague question. But one I'm interested in.

Jake's point got me thinking and I have another question - if Marc Jacobs did not already have a well established (celebrity) client base, would Teller's images be strong enough to sell Jacobs' clothing line?

The quotes Pony provided strongly suggest that Teller isn't thinking about anything! Subject is an important element in photography, and martinb has a point - if you can ignore the fact that the spotty, tired looking girl is actually Kate Moss, or the clothes other models are wearing are haute couture, aren't you just left with a load of vacuous, boring imagery? Anybody, anybody at all, can take bad photos - the really hard thing is successfully making good ones. Can someone explain what's good about Teller's work, other than shit stirring?

The more time passes, the more the word "innovation" sounds like swearing. I must be getting old...

And that just came out more, er, forcefully than intended... What I mean is, I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me a lead in to his work, because I'm not managing alone?

It is interesting that there are so many strong views on Jurgen Teller, what I would like to see is a more esthetic aproach to lighting and compesition.
Who said tha people with elephants would be a good idea,Look again at the work of Bruce Weber. All the best Guys and Girls Sebastion

I think it's a little over the top to suggest he is thinking nothing. Come on, this is not just photography we are talking about. This is fashion and advertising as well. Mass exposure. I just don't think it's it's enough for people here to say the imagery is 'boring' - that's just lazy in my opinion. If you're going to critique then substantiate your point. What then, is the amazing thouroughly provocative photography aesthetic Bruce Weber and Juergen Teller are supposed to be presenting? Put it into words instead of resorting to comparisons.

And Richard Avedon did a fashion shoot with elephants too.

Why should I have to put the words into his mouth?! If I were lazy I wouldn't be trying so desperately hard to understand the appeal of his work. And comparisons are inevitable, because his work exists in the context of contemporary photography, be it fashion, advertising or his family album. Do you like his work Jake? Then tell me why, is all I ask.