David Bailey: Locations

by David Bailey (Photographer)

If David Bailey was the quintessential London photographer of the Swinging Sixties, the photographs he produced in the 1970s reflect a radical reorientation. As can be seen in this selection, his subject matter became truly international. Throughout the decade, Bailey determined to photograph peoples and places across the world that fascinated him. Alongside these photographs, this volume presents images from his 1970s fashion sittings (featuring Marie Helvin, Penelope Tree and Anjelica Huston), as well as his portraits of subjects ranging from Salvador Dali and Mick Jagger to Margaret Thatcher and Mother Teresa. His acclaimed television documentaries on Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton and Luchino Visconti provided yet more opportunities for compelling stills.

260 pages, Hardcover

First published November 21, 2008

About the author

David Bailey is one of the most respected photographers in the world. He worked as a fashion photographer for Vogue magazine, but he is also known for his work on the ‘Swinging London’ scene from the 1960s, which gave him celebrity photographer status.

Bailey’s fashion work and celebrity portraiture, characterized by stark backgrounds and dramatic lighting effects, transformed British fashion and celebrity photography from chic but reserved stylization to something more youthful and direct. His work reflects the 1960s British cultural trend of breaking down antiquated and rigid class barriers by injecting a working-class or “punk” look into both clothing and artistic products. Bailey himself became a celebrity who epitomized “swinging London”; he was known for his affairs with several celebrated women, among them the model Jean Shrimpton and the actress Catherine Deneuve, whom he married in 1965 (divorced 1972). He is thought to have inspired the role of the photographer, Thomas, in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up (1966).