As one of the most celebrated international photographers, Juergen Teller (*1964 in Erlangen) is renowned for creating portraits, fashion campaigns and editorials in his nonconformist, authentic style since the late 1980s. Last December, Teller, who was the first living photographer to exhibit at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris, staged his most extensive exhibition to date entitled i need to live, which toured to the Triennale Milano earlier this year.

Aside from his commercial commissions, Teller has also produced major bodies of personal works in which he explores himself, his family, his roots, and his identity. In the past five years, Teller has collaborated with his wife, Dovile Drizyte.

The show, Where we come from, marks a return to Erlangen and the Kunstpalais after seven years with his most personal exhibition to date. The show begins with Teller and Drizyte’s playful 2021 series, We are Building our Future Together, which depicts the couple wearing brightly coloured safety gear on construction sites in Naples and Venice to commemorate their marriage and their future lives together.

This intimate exhibition is centred upon Teller’s immediate family - himself, his wife and his youngest daughter, Iggy, who are all framed by their origins. In Teller’s childhood home in Bubenreuth and the Franconian Forest, as well as his wife's hometown of Kaunas in Lithuania, Teller captured incredible similarities of both places.

Tender moments, such as his romantic conception series, The Myth, to the celebratory spectacle of the San Paolo procession and blessing of baby Iggy at Palazzolo Acreide in A Sciuta, 2023, conveys Teller’s insatiable curiousity in life, whilst also acknowledging the fragility of human existence.

In an immersive video projection Men (6’46”), Teller presents us with a story, recounted to him by his father-in-law Mykolas during their first meeting. It was played out together with actor Alexander Skarsgård in 2023, in the North of Sweden and is equal parts heavy, grotesque and captivating. It is also a complex reflexion on the troubled relashionship with Teller’s late father.

However, it is the recent, Iggy Teller does Teller series where Teller restaged his iconic images with his daughter as the star for Document Journal which provides the most joy. There is a mischievous way in which Iggy adopts the same poses as the original subjects – emerging out of bag like Victoria Beckham or wearing a pink wig in bed to emulate the famous Young Pink Kate, London, 1998 photograph.

Where we come from embodies Teller’s sense of honesty and trust - in his subjects, his work, his family and his approach to life.

Image: We are building our future together No.86, Napoli, 2021, © Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved

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