Juergen Teller's Provocative Photography Lands in Milan

The Triennale Milano hosts 'Juergen Teller i need to live', a major survey of the German photographer's work previously shown at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris. Curated by Thomas Weski in collaboration with Teller and Dovile Drizyte, the exhibition features over 1,000 works, some different from the Paris iteration. Teller (born 1964 in Erlangen, based in London since 1986) blends personal and commercial photography, with fashion campaigns for luxury brands like Saint Laurent, which sponsors the show. The installation is heterogeneous, ranging from large-scale prints to magazine-style layouts. The exhibition includes a video where Teller discusses his family and walks through a snowy forest in shorts with his brother-in-law. Provocative and deliberately unsettling, his work has been shown at prestigious venues including Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Martin-Gropius-Bau, and T-10/SKP-S in Beijing. Portraits of celebrities like Kate Moss and Boris Michajlov appear. In recent years, Teller has collaborated with his wife Dovile on intimate projects depicting married life and parenthood, including images of their young daughter in sometimes grotesque nudity. The title 'i need to live' references existential incidents in Teller's life, such as his father's early death. A striking photo shows Teller naked on his father's grave. The exhibition runs at Triennale Milano.