Guitar Eros

Jean-Baptiste Mondino’s digitally processed photographs and video clips radically changed the commercial strategies of the rock, pop and fashion industry and made him a guru of the trade. Yet, Mondino originally started as a disc jockey and composer. Music is still his favorite subject and the electric guitar his favorite instrument. No wonder, ever since Picasso and Braque created their first guitar still lifes, this instrument stands for the mesmerizing combination of music, erotics, and modernism. In his new book Mondino presents his guitar photographs created over the past twenty years as commissioned works or his own projects. They portray famous rock and pop musicians such as Mick Jagger, Madonna, Tom Waits, and Keith Richards; models and celebrities with guitars; and numerous anonymous guitar players. Central subject and the undisputed star of each picture, however, is the guitar itself.