JEFF BURTON
PHOTOGRAPHER + DIRECTOR
Jeff Burton
Seamlessly intertwining elements of fine art, fashion, and erotica, Jeff Burton’s poetic and voyeuristic imagery conveys an atmospheric air of secrecy, mystery and seduction, often capturing the depth of his subjects through a fleeting reflection or fragment of light.
Following graduate school, Burton began working as a still photographer on adult film sets. As he worked, he began to develop a style focused not on the sexual activity of the film being produced but on seemingly unimportant details and surroundings – details that suggest a mundane world outside the transgressive situation of the filming. Often choosing to picture his subjects from unexpected angles, Burton rarely just documents what is in front of him, but rather uses that material to construct his own personal and mysterious world that is more suggestive than explicit.
His photographs set up uncanny relationships between people and their surroundings, and his playful juxtapositions blur the traditional boundaries of real action and acting, work and pleasure, fact and fiction, documentary and fine art photography.
Seamlessly intertwining elements of fine art, fashion, and erotica, Jeff Burton’s poetic and voyeuristic imagery conveys an atmospheric air of secrecy, mystery and seduction, often capturing the depth of his subjects through a fleeting reflection or fragment of light.
Following graduate school, Burton began working as a still photographer on adult film sets. As he worked, he began to develop a style focused not on the sexual activity of the film being produced but on seemingly unimportant details and surroundings – details that suggest a mundane world outside the transgressive situation of the filming. Often choosing to picture his subjects from unexpected angles, Burton rarely just documents what is in front of him, but rather uses that material to construct his own personal and mysterious world that is more suggestive than explicit.
His photographs set up uncanny relationships between people and their surroundings, and his playful juxtapositions blur the traditional boundaries of real action and acting, work and pleasure, fact and fiction, documentary and fine art photography.
Editorial
Revealing a raw and intimate side to his subjects through obstructed views and reflections in glass and mirrors, Burton’s intimate and emotional photographs have been commissioned by Vogue Paris, Vogue Hommes International, Domus, W Magazine, Arena Homme+, Vanity Fair, Fantastic Man, Numéro, and The New York Times.
“The intimacy in Burton’s photographs is seldom captured without some form of mediation, whether a distorting reflection or an artful angle. The eroticism of his shots, always tempered by an air of detachment.”
Portraiture
Working in the George Hurrell tradition of celebrity portraiture, rooted in carefully lit Hollywood glamour, Burton’s celebrity portraits portray nuances between reality and fantasy, narrating the underlying drives of Los Angeles’s cultural environment in an industry fabricating desires and expectations. Featuring an extraordinary use of saturated color, many are shot extremely close up, making each subject an intimate.
“Nothing is as banal as it seems, and the atmosphere suggests a drama about to unfold. His viewers are thrown into the rather embarrassing but irresistible role of voyeur.”
“Burton’s most striking pictures have an honesty that doesn’t follow any script, and it’s refreshing to find a commercial photographer whose art is to appeal to his subjects’ vanity and flatter us all at once.”
Advertising
Highly sought-after for his oblique narrative style, Burton recently photographed a breathtaking campaign for MAC Cosmetics, which featured beauty, still life, and environmental imagery, as well as a short film starring Steffy Argelich. He has also collaborated on captivating advertising campaigns with Tom Ford, Cartier, Lancôme, Pomellato, Hennessy, Cerruti, Yves Saint Laurent, and Kris Van Assche.
"I admire Jeff’s approach because I find it to be poetic and exacting. His photos are extremely well constructed and they have many different readings."
Film
Reinterpreting his unconventional film industry background for consumption in a contemporary, seductive way, Burton’s unique and radical approach has produced arresting brand films for clients including Céline, Gemfields, MAC Cosmetics, and Wrangler Europe that actively engage viewers in the narrative of desire.
Publications
Comprehensive collections of tantalizing photographs, Burton’s ‘Untitled’ (Composite Press/Hougado Corp.), ‘The Other Place’ (Twin Palms Publishers) and ‘Dreamland’ (powerHouse Books) are expert and precisely selective journeys through the sunshine noir of greater Los Angeles, documenting the well-worn but little-known trail of the pornographic industry from the Hollywood sign to the San Fernando Valley. Photographed in voluptuous and lingering detail, these exquisite monographs capture the lush atmosphere and isolation of the business through the eyes of one of its most brilliant observers.
Exhibitions
Jeff Burton’s photography has been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the Barbican Centre in London, and many other national and international museums. He has had seven solo shows at his primary gallery, Casey Kaplan. Burton’s work is also represented at Galleria Franco Noero in Turin, where he has mounted four solo exhibitions.
JEFF BURTON
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