‘Sometimes when you’re taking a picture an extraordinary sense of luck and chance takes over and propels you to make pictures that you couldn’t in your wildest dreams have imagined. This is the magic of photography’. Tim Walker, Story Teller. Pg 112

This autumn, Somerset House will present a major new exhibition by Tim Walker – one of the most visually exciting and influential fashion photographers working today. Extravagant in scale and ambition and instantly recognisable for their eye-opening originality, Walker’s photographs dazzle with life, colour and humour. His recent work is drawn from the pages of the world’s leading magazines: British, French, American and Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, W and The New Yorker among many others.

Working with the biggest names in contemporary fashion and culture, in Tim Walker Story Teller you will encounter Alber Elbaz sporting a pair of rabbit ears; Karen Elson up against it with a giant crocodile; Agyness Deyn in the sand dunes of Namibia; Tilda Swinton in Iceland; Alexander McQueen and a memento mori of skull and cigarettes; Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton turning an Essex garden centre into a danse macabre; Stella Tennant in a pink cloud among the rhododendrons of an English country garden and a visitor from outer space surprises a foxhunt in Northumberland.

Walker’s photographs will provide the focus of the exhibition, but the camera, he claims, ‘is simply a box put between you and what you want to capture’. Their success does not rely on graphic manipulation but on painstaking groundwork. Everything in Walker’s pictures are specially constructed and in a glimpse behind the mechanics, there will be installations and a selection of the extraordinary props and models on show: giant grotesque dolls for Italian Vogue and an almost life-size replica of a doomed Spitfire fighter plane.

With an imagination that knows no bounds, Walker turns fashion shoots into fairytales or, in his own words, ‘daydreams into photographs’. He constructs flamboyant worlds that unfold, page after page, like a series of stills from unrealised films. The photo shoot begins to resemble the film set: hair and make-up artists, fashion stylists and costume fitters, model makers, set designers, builders, producers and painters, prop suppliers and a cast of models playing out imagined roles. At the centre is Walker harnessing creative and technical talents to conjure up the harmonious whole in a singular picture.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of events that feature many of Tim Walker’s long-time collaborators and uncover the influences and stories behind his work. There will be workshops for all ages offering visitors the opportunity to work with some of the set designers and prop builders who have worked with Tim Walker throughout his career and talks will include Tim Walker in Conversation with Penny Martin. Throughout the exhibition there will also be the opportunity to see a series of films specially curated by Tim Walker. Made up of films that have inspired and influenced many of his images, they will include cult movies such as La Belle at la Bete, The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death and Tim’s own first feature The Lost Explorer.

To coincide with this highly anticipated exhibition, Thames & Hudson will publish Story Teller by Tim Walker (£45). The book features over 175 inspirational images, collages and snapshots from Walker’s personal archives, many on display in this exciting exhibition.

Tim Walker, was born in England in 1970, Tim Walker’s interest in photographs began at the Conde Nast library in London where he worked on the Cecil Beaton archive before taking up a place at Exeter College of Art to study photography. After graduating, he became assistant to Richard Avedon in New York before returning to England where he initially concentrated on portrait and documentary work for UK newspapers.

Walker's photographs are nostalgic of an era of innocence and exuberance; youthful imagination and a uniquely British aesthetic. At once modern yet familiar, his world is reminiscent of a childhood spent dressing up in ancient couture, dragging family heirlooms down to the bottom of the garden to furnish tree-lined ballrooms. These memories are retold with a sublimely reminiscent matured eye for drama and intrigue. Tim painstakingly stages each picture in camera, which reinforces the home-spun magic and texture shown in each image.

At the age of 25 he shot his first fashion story for Vogue, and has photographed for the British, Italian, and American editions ever since. He has also contributed to Harpers Bazaar, W, i-D and Vanity Fair magazines, and advertising campaigns such as: Yohji Yamamoto, Guerlain and Dior Parfums.

In the spring of 2008 his first major show was held at the Design Museum in London, which coincided with the publication of his first book ‘Pictures’. In November 2008 Walker received the ‘Isabella Blow award for Fashion Creator’ by The British Fashion Council and, in May 2009, he received an Infinity Award from The International Center of Photography, New York, in recognition for his work as a fashion photographer.

The Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in London include Tim Walkers epic and captivating photographs in their permanent collections.

Tim Walker has brought the last four Mulberry seasons to life as part of ethereal, beautiful campaigns and shares the brand’s love for juxtaposing heritage appeal with English eccentricity; finding the fantastical in fashion and telling the unexpected fairy tale. Mulberry continues their support of Tim Walker’s creativity through supporting Story Teller, the exhibition.

He's represented by the Michael Hoppen Gallery and Art & Commerce.

Somerset House
East Wing Galleries, Strand
London WC2R 1LA United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)20 7845 4600
Fax +44 (0)20 7836 7613
info@somersethouse.org.uk
www.somersethouse.org.uk

Opening hours
Daily from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
Free admission