Is it Noomi Rapace sporting a half-empty pint in a dive bar? Yes, indeed. A daring, edgy and punk, at the same time elegant and stylish photo shoot of the Swedish actress circled fashion blogs and socials at the end of 2024. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo actually visited Kaunas, Lithuania for this project mastered by the German photographer Juergen Teller, who has a special personal connection with the city.

In a photo shoot for Re-Edition magazine, the 45-year-old actress is wearing Alexander McQueen, the debut work of the house’s new creative director Seán McGirr. In fact, it was during Teller’s conversation with McGirr that the idea for this photo shoot was born. 

‘Kaunas […] is a place that Teller has long harboured a desire to shoot – as you’ll see here the town’s time-frozen post-Soviet bars, industrial grit and surrounding bucolic greenery serves as an instinctual backdrop for the photographer’s candid lens.’ – notes Mahoro Seward. The author of the in-depth interview also states that Rapace wearing the collections demonstrates why McGirr’s perspective will play a significant role in the shaping of contemporary fashion’s course.

Since the 1980s, Teller’s work has been appreciated for its purity, boldness and unique aesthetic, evident in his personal series and commercial and fashion photography. The artist’s portfolio includes names and brands such as Kylie Minogue, Sofia Coppola, Kate Moss, Elton John, Joan Didion, Missoni, Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino, Palace, Adidas, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, and many more. He has published over 50 books. 

We asked the artist to tell us more about the shoot in Kaunas and his views on photography. 

How did you find the city, and what impression did it leave on you as a photographer or as a person?

My wife and creative partner, Dovile Drizyte, comes from Kaunas, and we visit Dovile’s parents, where she grew up, regularly and vice versa. I grew up in a small village near Erlangen in Germany.

I’m very fond of going to Lithuania in general, whether Kaunas, Vilnius, Nida, or the Hill of Crosses.

I published a book called Jurgaičiai about the Hill of Crosses with Steidl publisher and showed it at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris and at the Triennale in Milano.

I feel very comfortable, at easy in Kaunas, I like the bread, cepelinai, beetroot soup, the beer and the Vodka. The forest feels very similar to the forest I grew up.

I had an exhibition in Erlangen at the Kunst Palais titled Where we come from, and I combined pictures of Kaunas on the left with pictures on the right of Bubenreuth, always a diptych. Left is Dovile’s birthplace and on the right, my birthplace.

What motivated you to select Kaunas as the site for photographing the Alexander McQueen collection? Did the city’s environment shape the visual narrative you aimed to create?

As an idea to photograph the Alexander McQueen collection and the actress Noomi Rapace in the bar next to my parents’ in-law felt very right and exciting, and expanding the portfolio with some fairytale figures in Juodkrantė made it very intriguing for me.

What is the difference between photographing a celebrity and an average person? 

I treat every person the same. As every person is different, whether a famous person or your neighbour, I try to be as sensitive and careful as possible.  

If you asked me about celebrities, I’m not particularly interested in them. I do like to collaborate with certain well-known persons, only because of what they do, whether an artist, architect, singer or actor. 

It is inspiring to work together. It is exciting when someone wants to work with me and I with them.  If I do an advertising fashion job, the worst is to deal with publicists, agents of that particular ‘celebrity’, and that can become very tedious.  

Quite a few of the portraits you took became iconic, for many – the first visual association of a celebrity when one hears his or her name. How do you feel about it?

I just try to do very good work; it was never my goal to create ‘icons’.  

It would be interesting to hear your opinion on whether everyone can make a good photo – by chance or purpose.  

Yes, of course, everyone can do a good photograph at some point, but very few people can have a strong viewpoint of over a period of let’s say 40 years. You have to feel and understand the intent of a photographer.  

Do you often hear requests ‘oh can you take my picture’ from relatives or friends? 

Yes, sometimes I hear that question, I find it difficult, as it’s very serious work and I want to relax at the moment and not work.  

How has the popularity of mobile photography and social networking influenced your work? 

I like the progress of digital photography very much. I photograph a lot with my phone.  Social media influenced the fashion industry enormously, I would say very negatively. 

What do you think about selfie culture? 

Selfie culture, Instagram etc. The vanity, and stupidity of people are pretty unbearable. I  believe it is not very healthy for your brain or your body.

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The photo shoot in Kaunas was organized by Berlin-based production company Vers and Lithuanian producer company 47xRadioaktivefilm. 

Re-Edition with a 46-page long interview and photo shoot with Noomi Rapace can be purchased in some of main art bookshops worldwide, as well as in WHSmith stores and 0FR bookshop in Paris; its main online retailer is www.boutiquemags.com.

All photographs © Juergen Teller, All rights Reserved.