How absurdity can reveal the essence: Juergen Teller's photography

In 1991, the photographer Juergen Teller followed a still unknown US band on its concert tour through Germany. They were called Nirvana. Along with the grunge band's breakthrough came recognition for Juergen Teller's work. Now, 25 years later, the man born in 1964 in a village in the South of Germany is a world-famous photographer based in London.

Juergen Teller is renowned for creating intimate settings for his work. For his fashion photography, he often prefers to show a bare supermodel than to focus on the glamour of the clothes. In this campaign for the designer Marc Jacobs, he even renounced most of Victoria Beckham's famous features, hiding her in a bag and letting her legs reproduce an M.

In 2015, Juergen Teller went out on a surreal photo shoot with reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her husband, rapper Kanye West. Although they met on the grounds of a French chateau, the photographer nevertheless preferred to get Kim semi-naked on a pile of rubble. He also included himself (right) in the odd series of photos. They were released as a photo book called "Kanye, Juergen & Kim."

Many wonder why the power couple of pop culture would accept to be represented in such a way. Teller believes his honesty towards his models allows him to try out wild experiments. Some photos in his new series are intriguingly absurd, commenting on the perhaps just as surreal cult of stardom in fashion and entertainment.

The Juergen Teller exhibition at the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn features for the first time his new series, "Plates-Teller," which plays on his last name: Teller is the German word for plate. Musicians and models hold a plate, which symbolically replaces the photographer, who often includes himself in his concepts.

Juergen Teller presents himself and his life on a plate. The exhibition includes self-portraits of his stay in rehab, of his mother Irene, and of his wife and children. The photographer manages to capture the essence of whatever he photographs.

The exhibition also includes sculptures made of piles of plates. Some plates feature cats, nipples or baby faces. He wrote on one of them: "Everything in a wide sense is a kind of self-portrait." Juergen Teller's pictures always reveal something about the photographer.

The exhibition, called "Enjoy Your Life," shows how the photographer has repeatedly added his own humorous and experimental touch while exploring all aspects of life, from birth to old age. This portrait of author Joan Didion was carefully staged, but it nevertheless appears very natural.

Soccer stars Pep Guardiola and Philipp Lahm also modeled for Juergen Teller. In 2014, the photographer prepared a book paying tribute to the football World Cup. Teller is working on a new photo project with the French footballer Paul Pogba during the current Euro Cup. Juergen Teller has been a football enthusiast and player since childhood.

Another series produced during the 2014 World Cup, called "Siegerflieger," features the photographer himself enjoying matches with his family and friends. The different snaps make up a huge photo mural at the exhibition hall in Bonn. Some 250 works by Juergen Teller can be seen there until September 25.