This season sees the release of the newest book in Juergen Teller's original and beloved "Masters" series. Teller made his first Master in 2005 as an homage to everything he believes is a master or masterful-be it a chef like Fergus Henderson, an artist like David Hamilton, his own grandmother, Kurt Cobain, or a landscape-as well as a tongue-in-cheek recognition of himself as a master of his own photographic identity. The concept was simple: to produce an ongoing series of humble books, each at the same small size, with no text and as little design as possible-an antithesis to the standard overblown coffee-table book. Like past volumes in the series, The Master IV features an unpredictable mix of Teller's eclectic photography: be it his unorthodox fashion work, still lifes and landscapes, celebrity and self-portraits, or images that slip between these genres. These books are dedicated to four of Teller's most important masters who have influenced both his work and outlook on life-Nobuyoshi Araki, William Eggleston, Boris Mikhailov and Charlotte Rampling-and feature new portraits of them. I don't like taking a sly picture on the side. I like the direct approach. I want to be as honest to myself and the subject as possible. And I'm depending on their humanness to come through. Juergen Teller
