De Hallen Haarlem is proud to present its second solo exhibition of the influential German photographer Juergen Teller (Erlangen, 1964). The London based photographer is well known for his unconventional, provocative photographs. His editorial work is regularly published in international magazines like i-D, Purple and W Magazine and he shoots campaigns for fashion houses and designers like Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood. He has also produced numerous monographs and is publishing four new books with Steidl in the new year.

Teller’s work, in books, magazines or exhibitions, is marked by his refusal to separate his commercial fashion pictures and his mostly autobiographical images which are not commissioned.

In 2003, De Hallen presented ‘Märchenstüberl’, an extensive body of personal photography that explores his and his family’s roots and reminiscences.

For his second exhibition at De Hallen, entitled ‘Teller’, Juergen revisits the location of ‘Märchenstüberl’ and unveils a new body of work – a series of pictures of Brazilian model Raquel Zimmerman in his parental home in Germany. Photographed in a variety of unnatural poses, surrounded by family members, her beauty contrasts sharply with the kitsch interior and evokes a feeling of repressiveness and claustrophobia, whilst also revealing a magical, ethereal atmosphere throughout. Employing a story-telling approach to the images, Teller presents a series of peculiar situations and contemporary interpretations of the ‘vanitas’ theme.

Beauty and decay run through other sections of this exhibition including pictures of dog carcasses in India and young model Lily Cole amongst the arid landscape of the Greek island of Hydra. The contrast between extreme deterioration and the notion of beauty become occasionally disturbingly close through Juergen’s lens.