David Bailey Locations: Photographs 1970-1979

by Martin Harrison, David Bailey

No photographer since the 1960s has had a greater impact on our perception of photography and the photographer than David Bailey. As famous as the famous faces on which he trained his camera, he opened up a world in which he was himself a central figure. If Bailey and his work had been predominantly associated with London in the sixties, his subject matter in the seventies was truly international. The tone was set by his first major assignment for Vogue in January 1970, a fashion shoot in the context of dramatic environmental backdrops in Turkey. Throughout the decadethe last to witness lavish spending by magazinesBailey appeared to use fashion sittings as a means to fulfill his childhood ambition to be the great explorer, while at the same time becoming a consummate master of studio fashion in the age of the "glamour revival." Bailey's photography in the 1970s is most significant for the expansion of its range. Coinciding with the rapid growth of photographic galleries, he was determined to photograph cultures that fascinated him. His incisive documents of India, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, and New Guinea, many of them previously unknown, culminated at the end of the decade in the most political of his reportages, that of the Vietnamese boat people. At the same time, acclaimed TV documentaries on Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, and Luchino Visconti provided opportunities for extended series of stills, as compelling today as they were at the time. 250 illustrations in color and duotone.

Genres: Photography

256 pages, Hardcover

Published November 24, 2003

About the author

Martin Harrison is a British art historian, curator, and author, internationally recognized for his expertise in photography, stained glass, and the work of painter Francis Bacon. Beginning his career in the 1960s as a photographer’s assistant at Vogue, Harrison later emerged as a leading authority on British photojournalism with his influential book Young Meteors: British Photojournalism, 1957–1965. He played a key role in reviving interest in forgotten photographers, including Lillian Bassman and Saul Leiter.
Harrison’s curatorial work spans major institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, with exhibitions held across Europe, the United States, and Mexico. A founding trustee of the English Stained Glass Museum at Ely Cathedral, he also contributed significantly to the study of Victorian stained glass and Pre-Raphaelite art.
His most celebrated contribution lies in his extensive scholarship on Francis Bacon. Since 1999, Harrison has authored several critical texts on the artist’s work and its sources, culminating in the five-volume Francis Bacon: Catalogue Raisonné (2016), a landmark in Bacon studies. He continues to lead academic discourse as editor of the Francis Bacon Studies series, focusing on the artist’s intellectual and visual influences, particularly cinema and photography.
Across a multifaceted career, Harrison has combined visual analysis with rigorous scholarship, leaving a lasting impact on the study of modern art and visual culture.

Reviews

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book with some stunning pictures and interesting back ground material. Makes you want to go out and try harder with your own camera.