Handbags by Juergen Teller, published by Steidl — *Handbags* by Juergen Teller, published by Steidl

Our handbags carry everything: makeup, money, books—and drugs. Someone who carries a large bag may have a great deal to carry (or hide), whereas someone who carries a small bag may like to hop from place to place, unburdened by laptops or books. But what else can handbags signify? What can we say about people who carry bags emblazoned with Louis Vuitton logos, round polka dots, or eye-popping animal prints?

Juergen Teller's new book on photography, Handbags, printed by Steidl, thoroughly ponders this question by showing us everything that handbags are capable of expressing. The book is massive, containing 608 pages of handbags. There are fat bags and skinny bags; round bags and boxy bags; bags with triangles and bags with squares. “I always enjoyed photographing handbags,” Teller writes in an excerpt at the beginning of the book. “They are nice, silent companions and I had fun photographing them throughout the years. They are the real stars in this book.”

It’s hard to deny that the handbags are, indeed, the stars of the show. In the middle of the book, there is a picture of Chloë Sevigny, a one-time Golden Globe winner, holding a red handbag while she scornfully gazes into the camera. But our eyes aren’t drawn to Sevingy. Instead, Teller uses his unparalleled skills in color and composition in order to call our attention to the handbag Sevingy carries; the bright red bag jumps off the page, screaming for attention and differentiating itself from the muted pastels that dominate the rest of the picture. The bag proves to be just as regal as the person who possesses it. Teller’s ability to manipulate the viewer’s attention towards the object of his desire, the omnipresent handbag, makes this book a must-have. Handbags shocks and surprises. In some moments you feel an ah-ha when you suddenly recognize familiar faces, and, in others, you are left, awestruck, when Juergen shows a young girl throwing her head back in laughter as she clutches a giant green bag.

Objects fascinate us. They make us squeal with delight or scamper away in terror. Handbags, in particular, hold a special place in the American psyche. Almost everyone carries a bag, for one reason or another, and it’s impossible to walk down Fifth Avenue without seeing one. Sometimes, we become more interested in the bag than the young socialite who carries it. Handbags unpacks this phenomena by forcing us to step back for a second, put our bags down, and just look.

You can find more of Juergen Teller’s work here.