AV s. Magazine special offprint

A Vs . M a g a z i n e s p e c i a l o f f p r i n t
P erfect i o n i st
aga i n st
all
o dds …
As with all great personalities, the name Gunnar Larsen, carries very different and
contradicting connotations. A star, a slob, a genius, a playful amateur – once we
opened the ‘little black box’ of Gunnar Larsen’s oeuvre, the story started to unravel
– a story that has been lying dormant for almost 20 years.
Gunnar Larsen was a provocateur and an anarchist; a full-blown bohemian and an
extreme perfectionist. He found his own winding way to recognition and acclaim
– even if that meant breaking some rules, stepping on some toes and piss off the
establishment from time to time.
But regardless of what his contemporaries thought and think of him, the Gunnar
Larsen legacy stands undistributed: he was a unique artist ahead of his time – the
pictures and their impact on modern day photography say it all. With this tribute
exhibition, ‘Gunnar versus Vs’, the team at Vs. Magazine has set out to resurrect the
memory, the style and the energy of this bold photographer and fashion persona, who
was indeed a talent despite himself… Enjoy!
J a k o b F. S .
E d i t o r - i n - C h i e f — Vs . M a g a z i n e
A FWD. Agency production
Creative Direction J a k o b F . S .
Editor S i n e G e r s t e n b e r g
Photo coordination L a s s e B a k M e j l v a n g
Styling coordination V i b e D a b e l s t e e n
Art Direction T h o m a s U l r i k s t u d i o
Contributing editor R a s m u s F . H a n s e n
Cover illustration T h i e r r y P e r e z
WWW.GEORGJENSEN.COM
Copenhagen: Amagertorv 4 & Copenhagen Airport
Århus: Søndergade 1
additional stockists: +45 38 14 98 98
Contents
P. 10: Henrik Bülow, photographer
Henrik Bülow just couldn’t resist the alluring world of fashion photography, so he gave in, and now he is
one of the most celebrated Danish fashion photographers.
“Gunnar Larsen made his own magazine because nobody else wanted to publish his pictures. There was no
stopping him; he was his own master and did things in his own way. That’s truly inspiring.”
P. 14: Signe Vilstrup, photographer
When she was a teenager someone gave Signe Vilstrup a Gunnar Larsen book. Seeing Lotte Heise in there
made her realize that fashion photography might be the way to go. After assisting for five years, she went
solo at the age of 25.
“Gunnar Larsen was ahead of his time, and he created the Danish tradition of fashion photography as art,”
says Signe Vilstrup.
P. 18: Rasmus Mogensen, photographer
Rasmus Mogensen got his first taste for photography at the tender age of eight, taking pictures of his school
buddies and his sister’s rabbits. At age fifteen he applied for an internship with Gunnar Larsen, but this was
near the end of Gunnar’s career, so it never happened. “The person I spoke to about the internship told me
that Gunnar worked with only one lamp. This laid the foundation for my own ideas about working with
light.”
P. 22: Lars H, photographer
While growing up, Lars H felt a desire to express himself, and in photography he found the magical energy,
the exciting blend of true and false that he was looking for.
“What inspires me most about Gunnar Larsen is that he wasn’t afraid to fail, he had no fear. His technique
is one of controlled randomness.”
P. 26: Morten Bjarnhof, photographer
Morten Bjarnhof has had a passion for photography since high school, and after seeing Antonioni’s 1966
film ‘Blowup’ he was convinced that he could make himself a career in photography. And so he has – to
the fullest, one might say.
“Larsen’s hard and graphical photos rebelled against the romantic style of the time, and they were inspiring
in being technically incorrect, so to speak.”
P. 30: Thierry Perez, illustrator
If you ever want to know about life among the royalty of the European fashion world just ask Theirry
Perez - he’s there. Working as an illustrator for more than two decades for Gaultier, Versace and Dolce &
Gabbana, Perez has proven his great talent within the field of mixed medium illustration again and again.
“Gunnar Larsen was free and creative, a very particular man – and completely apart from the rest.” 4
G U N NAR S P E C I AL O F FP R I NT S P O N S O R
Icon, photographer & provocateur ...
G u n n ar
L arse n
It all began with the ambitious vision of a man who approached the world of fashion on his own
terms. What Gunnar Larsen saw didn’t satisfy his standards, so he decided to raise them for everyone else. The result was ‘Gunnar’, the uncompromising and lavish, image-driven magazine that
secured the danish photographer a spot in the fashion hall of fame. Vs. commissioned five of the
best danish fashion photographers to freely interpret his work, and in this issue you can see what
they came up with. Their images will be exhibited in full in Paris and Copenhagen this spring.
“The World’s most expensive luxury magazine” was what Gunnar Larsen
called the exclusive fashion periodical that he simply endowed with his
first name. Gunnar (the magazine) measured half a meter in length and
was - literally - bigger than any of its competitors at the time. Larsen
used to boast that if customers could find a more expensive magazine, he
would give them a refund. Issued from Paris and priced at a snobby 100
Francs (around 16 €), it was exactly the kind of pricey and trendy coffee table magazine that would sit well in the home of any self-respecting
fashionista through the ’70s and ’80s. From the outset it didn’t sound like
the most prudent business plan ever: An oversized, expensive publication
on upscale fashion and contemporary art - with a funny name the French
would never learn how to pronounce. But the magazine was Larsen’s professional dream, and he was a determined man who put his money where
his mouth was. His plan was to use his inherited fortune and great creative
vision to put together an edgy fashion magazine that stood out from the
crowd, and Gunnar proved to be the perfect outlet for his prodigious talent. Using his natural fl air for PR strategy, he quite logically deduced
that if he were to catch the evanescent trends of fashion while they were
still fresh, he needed to establish a base in the undisputed fashion capital
of the world at the time, so off to Paris he went. He also knew that the
allure of the vibrant French capital –let’s call it the Paris brand name –
was instrumental in creating the right amount of hype around his project.
And he realized that in the skin-deep world of fashion, you need certain
illusions, a bit of retouching of reality, in order to be successful, and he
wasn’t the least bit apologetic about it - au contraire, mon ami. “Nobody
wants to buy a magazine with shiny noses and pimples in the pictures,”
as he used to say. Dissatisfied by the syndicated images he received for
his film review articles, Larsen bought a camera and set out to make some
improvements in the field of photography by teaching himself the tricks
of the trade. The prevailing style of fashion photography in the early ’70s
was rather romantic and very sweet, with plenty of Vaseline on the lens
to set the mood, but Larsen decided that the key to success was edginess,
originality and courage. He wanted his models to be dangerous and outgoing, and the images to be provocative. Placating people’s sensibilities
simply was not at the top of his agenda.
“Gunnar was the most creative person I’ve ever worked with,” says Lotte
Heise, one of Larsen’s favorite models through many years. “He was a
true visionary who inspired photographers all over the world, and one
of his reasons for working in fashion photography was that he wanted to
make things appear more beautiful than they really were.”
Another significant part of the momentum behind Gunnar was a reaction
against ingrown habits and what he saw as a lack of imagination and courage in fashion and the way it was presented in pictures and on the catwalk.
Seeing the same dull, disingenuous fashion shows over and over again
caused him to take action, so after witnessing a particularly botched and
embarrassing one in Denmark, he decided to bring his native audience a
proper show to remember. At his next catwalk event in Copenhagen he
began with a two-minute parody of the same old boring stuff , then set off
the fireworks and the loud music and dazzled everyone in sight.
The same attitude applied to his photographic work: He shot 80 percent
of the black & white images for the magazine, and presented his visionary ideas in the most extravagant and exclusive form. His mind was of
the larger-than-life type, but his physical appearance and the way that he
lived were simple and inexpensive. When money was fl owing, however,
he liked to treat the people around him to good food and wine. Expensive
photo shoots in remote countries were no hindrance if the ideas behind
them happened to be right. In times of insufficient funds he would forget
about the sunny beaches of Thailand and Brazil and instead hit the streets
of Paris with his trusted Pentax camera. He seldom worked in a studio, but
preferred to use the city scenes as his backdrop. His strong, theme-based
style was his claim to recognition, and photographers at the time used to
talk of “the Larsen style.” They may have admired him, but few photographers were able to match Larsen’s keen eye and obsessive dedication
to the job, and he was busier than most.
“He was a confirmed aesthete and a perfectionist till the end.
Even when we were insanely busy and doing three shows a
day, he could spot a loose thread on my dress from across the
room,” Lotte Heise remembers.
Being that Larsen’s roots were in Denmark, it only seemed natural
and important for him to use his creative platform to showcase young,
Danish talents. Designer Jens Laugesen had some of his early Dior
sketches published in Gunnar; you’d see lingerie drawings from designer
Anne Rubæk, and many dreamy-eyed teenage girls had their first taste of
the model life under Larsen’s firm guidance.He was widely known in the
business to be a very nice man who treated the girls with great respect and
care, and he was very much aware that the models are as much part of the
process as the photographer, which is why he usually preferred women
in their twenties who were more mature and expressive. Sometimes he
would deliberately put them in awkward situations during a photo shoot,
just to get a more defiant and angry look in their eyes.
When Larsen worked, and to the people around him he never seemed
to do much else, he would not allow mere practical considerations to
impede his creativity. Tor Tolstrup, a Danish journalist and long-time
friend of Gunnar, who visited him in Paris many times, recounts the
following incident: “Gunnar was shooting a series of some large bronze
jewelry pieces. In order to get a nice dynamic between the colors, he had
the Danish model, Winnie Holman, covered in some kind of green clay.
What we hadn’t expected was that the clay sucked out all of her body heat,
so she stood there all green and freezing like hell and clattering her teeth
during the entire session. Afterwards we realized that there was no shower
in the studio, so we wrapped Winnie in some very big sheets of paper
and huddled all five of us into Gunnar’s tiny Fiat 600, so we could get
her a shower. And those nosy Parisians couldn’t stop staring at our crazy
assembly all the way to his apartment.”
Larsen hated big noses. He would take particular care to select the female models according to their nasal attributes, and the smaller the better.
Using lighting and make-up techniques he then managed to reduce the
nose to only the dark shade of the nostrils. He also much preferred pale
skin: When shooting a series in a sunny location like Brazil, his models
had to sign contracts stating that they would not sunbathe or – probably
more conventionally in those circles – gain any weight during the stay.
His French was incredibly bad, but for some intractable reason the
Parisians, who are usually famous for their snobbish attitude towards their
native language, chose to always listen to Larsen with an indulgent ear.
The kind of broken language that would have gotten less fortunate people
a contemptuous sneer was somehow enough to grant him access to the
most prestigious of the French fashion houses. Except for a few times,
of course: “He was as careless about his own dress as he was perfectionist about his photography, and sometimes it would land him in trouble.
I remember one time when the house of Feraud had hired a new doorman, who wouldn’t let Gunnar in because of his sloppy appearance,”
Heise recounts.
Toward the end of the ’80s things began to slow down for Gunnar.
Nearing his fifties, Larsen’s eyesight was deteriorating, but he refused to
accept the fact. New technologies in the print and photo business were
quickly catching up with him. His assistant during this period recalls a
man who seemed to be known by everyone, but close to few, not even
his family. He did have good friends, however, and Tor Tolstrup spoke
to him on the day before he died in August 1990. The task designated to
Tolstrup on behalf of Larsen was to arrange for a collection of his photos
to be exhibited by a Danish museum. When the thousands of images and
negatives were auctioned off, an American collector tried to purchase the
whole lot, but two Danish museums managed to secure their share, and
today the results can be seen at the Danish Photo Museum, and at the
Museum of Art & Crafts in Copenhagen.
At this exhibition you can see the exclusive Gunnar interpretations from
renowned illustrator, Thierry Perez, and Scandinavian photographers
Signe Vilstrup, Rasmus Mogensen, Lars H, Henrik Bülow and Morten
Bjarnhof. The fashion series are also presented in SS/09 issue of Vs. as
a fashion feature.
Go to www.gunnarlarsen.com for more info.
Partners
saga furs – A fling with fur Gunnar Larsen had a soft spot for extravagant styling and luxurious items; naturally this made fur was one of his
favorite props and Saga Furs one of his favorite play-pals: “Gunnar Larsen
was a pioneer in his time, and he took a big risk moving to Paris. He succeeded in establishing himself as a central player on the Paris Fashion scene,
which is no easy task. When Saga Furs launched their designer collaboration program in 1988, Paris Fashion Brands were our first target and Gunnar
Larsen, being the patriot he was, helped Saga establish contact with certain
houses and designers, “says Mark Townsend, head of marketing and communications at Saga Furs. “It’s therefore natural for us to participate in a homage
to a great man, who unfortunately has been (almost) forgotten in his own
country.”
Gunnar Larsen had bold ideas, big ambitions and an avant garde approach
to tradition – very much in sync with the ideals of Saga Furs: “Saga is all
about innovation, heritage and being a solution provider to the fashion world.
We are proud of the ground-breaking work, we do at our Design Centre,
and our ongoing collaborations with top fashion brands like Prada, Gucci,
Louis Vuitton, Jean-Paul Gaultier as well as up-coming designers like Haider
Ackermann, Alexander Wang and Gareth Pugh.”
poses – Strike a pose Gunnar Larsen knew that a certain pose could
change the entire impression of a fashion image. This is why he often let his
models assume excruciating positions, for them to get a defiant, strong or
even contentious look. ‘Poses’, a newly started enterprise that creates presentation items and displays for lifestyle products, has inverted the teachings
of Gunnar to suit modern day luxury items. They’ve realized that effortless
styling and subtle packaging is of the utmost importance when trying to catch
the jaded consumer-eye. Poses supports the ‘Gunnar versus Vs’ exhibition,
and they feel a certain affinity to Gunnar Larsen’s credo of always pushing the
limits of what can be expected within his field. “We feel that Gunnar Larsen’s
story is truly inspiring and we are happy to see that his story and work is being
brought back into the spotlight. Gunnar Larsen managed to stay ahead of his
time and to this day, his work still serves as a source of inspiration within
fashion photography. Like Gunnar, we strive to develop new ideas and creative concepts on how to present fashion as art.”
Venues First Hotel Skt Petri is a five-star design hotel known for its clean,
modern appearance and its dedication to art, culture and above all: fashion!
Since opening in 2003, First Hotel Skt Petri has set out to stimulate its guests
with gourmet food, canny cocktails, glamorous gatherings and thought provoking exhibitions. ‘Vs. versus Gunnar’ couldn’t be staged more appropriately!
First Hotel Skt Petri, Krystalgade 22, 1172 Copenhagen, Denmark
—
Door Studios has become a favorite among the most fashionable fashion
photographers in the business. Mert & Marcus, Mario Testino, Craig McDean
– you name them, they’ve shot there. Situated in the magnanimous Marais,
Door Studios is the obvious choice for any high-profile photographic experience and hence the perfect setting for the French edition of ‘Vs. versus
Gunnar’. DOOR STUDIOS, 9_9 bis Rue Lediguières, 75004 Paris, France
form 3 – Fashioning functional forms Noted for their work with
some of the strongest fashion profiles both in Denmark and abroad, the
innovative Form 3 team were intrigued by the ‘Vs. versus Gunnar’ project.
Gunnar Larsen’s great attention to detail and flair for profiling favored artist,
brands and models, was just in tune with the aspirations of Form 3: “We
specialize in retail brand identity for fashion and lifestyle brands and share
a lot of Gunnar Larsen’s ideals,” says managing director Helge Schack
Bothmann. “Being a design and décor firm for recognized fashion brands,
we see it as our main objective to challenge the norms and help our clients
develop an outward appearance that differs from the mainstream.”
For this exhibition, Form 3 has created a unique installation to showcase the
illustrious photos and illustrations created in Gunnar’s honor: “ Paris was the
focal point of Gunnar Larsen’s work, so we thought it appropriate to show the
pictures in a Parisian environment. The Arc de Triomphe by Danish architect
Johan Otto von Spreckelsen epitomize the 80’s architectural mode of expression – an expression that still looks fresh today.”
Georg Jensen – another big G in fashion Georg Jensen, one of
the key partners in the ‘Gunnar versus Vs’ exhibition, is not only a Danish
luxury brand with a huge international following. Georg Jensen also shares
some common traits with his fellow fashion icon Gunnar Larsen. Both Georg
and Gunnar were known to stay true to their intuition, adhere to their Scandinavian style roots and maintain their own names as brand – regardless of
their almost too local sound. And just as Gunnar Larsen was known for his
infamous perfectionism, it is the exact same character trait that has made Georg
Jensen’s name stand out in more than a hundred years. Contrary to Gunnar
Larsen however, Georg Jensen understood the key importance of working as
a team and gaining inspiration from talented colleagues. From Georg Jensen’s
outset in 1904 till this day, the company has worked with the biggest talents
in the trade: from Johan Rohde, and Harald Nielsen to Henning Koppel and
Nanna Ditzel, remaining classic yet modern throughout the years.
8
G U N NAR S P E C I AL O F FP R I NT S P O N S O R
Henrik
Photography H e n r i k B ü l o w
Styling M e l a n i e B u c h h a v e / U n i q u e L o o k
Hair M a r i e T h o m s e n / U n i q u e L o o k
Makeup T r i n e S k j ø t h / U n i q u e L o o k
Model L y k k e M a y / 2 p m
Photo assistant I s a J a c o b K r i s t i a n s e n
Styling asistant A n d r e e H o x f e l d t
bülow
Anecdotes
Jens Laugesen, Fashion Designer
How did you know Gunnar Larsen?
I was his stylist assistant for two years before he died. Gunnar was an
incredibly generous man who helped me see a creative side of myself
that I hadn’t realized before.
How was your working relationship?
He was like my spiritual father in fashion; he pushed my limits and helped
open a lot of doors - inside me and around him. He created some special and
very personal images with his old worn-out Pentax camera. It was inspiring
to see that so much can be done with so little. He liked running a small and
independent operation, so the big companies weren’t for him.
What is your fondest memory of Gunnar Larsen?
I was a judge at a design contest in Zagreb a few months ago. On a wall I saw
one of his best-known images, the girl with the feline eyes. It turns out that
someone found it in a dumpster and decided to donate it to the students for
inspiration. Then they gave it to me, so now I have one of his iconic, original
photos at home.
13
Photography S i g n e V i l s t r u p
Styling K a r i n a Ø r n s t e d t / U n i q u e L o o k
Hair S i d s e l M a r i e B ø g
Makeup S i n e G i n s b o r g / U n i q u e L o o k
Model C a t r i n C / U n i q u e
Photo assistant R a s m u s J e n s e n
Styling Assistant L u i s a S c h l e i c h e r
Hair Asistant L o u i s e P o l a n o
s i g n e
Vi l s t r u p
Anecdotes
Erik Brandt, Danish Fashion Icon
How did you come to know Gunnar Larsen?
“My wife and I used to exhibit in Paris twice a year, and we had a lot
of customers down there in the mid-sixties. That’s where we met him.
He had a company called Gunpress, and in that period he took loads
of pictures for us.”
How was he to work with?
“He did a lot of very fine fashion reports for Danish newspapers like Ekstra
Bladet and Politiken, and he was terribly moody and difficult to be around.
But he was an original with a great talent, and unfortunately he died too early.”
Do you recall any funny anecdotes about him?
“His French was very poor, even after so many years in Paris, and he got
upset when things didn’t go his way. When my wife and I got the distribution
deal for Louis Ferraud, he literally cried in anger because he wasn’t allowed
to shoot our press photo. After that we didn’t speak for a few days, but he
soon loosened up again.”
17
rasmus
Photography R a s m u s M o g e n s e n
Styling A u d r e y L a m b e r t
Make up V i o l e t t e / M o d ’ s h a i r
Hair A u d r e y L a m b e r t
Model B i u / K a r i n M o d e l s P a r i s
M o ge n se n
Anecdotes
Thierry Perez, Fashion Illustrator
How did your work end up in ‘Gunnar’?
Without my knowledge, Larsen used some of my rather eccentric illustrations
from a Gaultier collection catalogue in the mag. It came as a total surprise to
me, but it was a good one.
What made Gunnar Larsen unique on a professional level?
When we saw ‘Gunnar ’ it was like seeing a UFO, it was so different. At first I
didn’t know who was behind the magazine, but it was obvious that he wanted to
make a statement. I really like it when you don’t follow the trends and create
something that stands out. Gunnar Larsen used a very strong look in his photos,
not just the chic and pretty women.
What is your impression of his work methods?
He would find young talents like models, illustrators and photographers and
give them a chance. He always followed his own taste and his own mind, and
he would work with people he liked rather than those who were famous.
21
Photography L a r s H
Styling N e i l S t u a r t / N a k e d A r t i s t s
Hair A d r i a n C l a r k / C a r e n
Makeup V a l e r i a F e r r e i r a
Models G e o r g i n a / I M G & R e b e c c a / M o d e l s 1
lars h .
Anecdotes
Lotte Heise – Former Model and Friend of Gunnar Larsen
How did you meet Gunnar?
I worked as an actress, when I was asked to walk a show for Gunnar. We are
both quite temperamental, so we started of by getting into a fight. But after the
show he encouraged me to come to Paris and work for him – and so I did from
’82 until he died.
What was he like to work with?
Gunnar was an extraordinary artist and had a theatrical take on fashion.
He wanted to tell a story not just show some clothes. He was not very good
at communicating though, so very often you had to work really hard to convey
the idea inside his head.
What could the fashion world of today learn from Gunnar Larsen?
To be more subtle and not just flaunt everything. Let there be some mystery,
some secrets for the imagination.
25
B jar n h o f
Photography M o r t e n B j a r n h o f
Styling S y l v i e P o r t u g a l d e M o u r a
Hair D a v i d M a r t i n e z / S y b i l K l é b e r
Make up W i l l i a m B a r t e l
Model O l e s y a / M e t r o p o l i t a n
Anecdotes
Maria Olsson, makeup artist and former model
What made Gunnar Larsen unique?
Everything! (Laughs) I’ve never met anyone like him. Whenever I hear his
name, I get this image inside my head of him walking down a street in Paris,
his long messy hair blowing in the wind and a curious smile on his face.
What was it like to work with him?
Either he loved you straight away or he hated you. But once you were in, he
was the most generous person I’ve ever met. He let all of us stay at his place,
without ever taking advantage of anyone. Gunnar constituted my family in
Paris – without being a father figure.
Gunnar Larsen loved big, dramatic makeup. Has his style influenced today’s makeup artists?
Maria Olsson in Gunnar International
I loved his cat-woman makeup, and I definitely think that we’ll see more of
that crazy, spectacular makeup. Gunnar loved lots of makeup; to him it was
always more, more, more!
29