Indepth Arts News:
"David Bailey: Birth of the Cool"
2000-06-17 until 2000-09-17
Modern Museum
Stockholm, ,
SE
David Bailey has been one of the most famous British photographers over the
last four decades. In Sweden he became best known as one of the hottest
photographers of the early 1960s, the time that has been given the epithet
Swinging London.
Bailey remembers that when he was growing up in the East End of London, he
saw three alternatives for his future: to be a boxer, a trumpet player or a
car thief. So he bought himself a trumpet and tried to play in the spirit of
Chet Baker, but his trumpet was stolen in Singapore where he was doing his
national service in the RAF. After losing this, Bailey became interested in
photography and discovered the work of Henri Cartier Bresson. Inspired by
these, Bailey bought a camera (a Rolleiflex copy, 6x6) in 1957. He soon
realised that although one could be taught the techniques of photography,the
ability to create images and imbue them with imagination comes from within
oneself.
Like others in his generation, Bailey poured over Life Magazine. After
finishing his national service in 1958, he got a job with David Olin, who
was then the main supplier of photos to Queen Magazine. After that he became
an assistant to the fashion photographer, John French, in London. In 1960
Bailey was 22 years old and already was working as a free lancer for British
Vogue. His name quickly became as well known as the people he photographed:
the fashion designer, Mary Quant, and everyone who was involved in Bazaar,
on the King's Road, the photographer, Bill Brandt, and also the Beatles, the
Rolling Stones, The Who and singers like Marianne Faithfull and Sandie Shaw.
Other subjects included actresses such as Mia Farrow, Catherine Deneuve,
Geraldine Chaplin, Sarah Miles, Jeanne Moreau, Julie Christie, Virginia
McKenna and actors like Peter Sellers and Michael Caine. Bailey also
photographed the period's current fashions on the streets of London or New
York for magazines like American Vogue or Glamour. The Shrimp or Jean
Shrimpton, Marisa Berenson, Penelope Tree and Twiggy were some of the models
that came in front of his motor-driven camera eye. During the 1960s Bailey
became Vogue's foremost photographer. On one occasion he said: I wanted to
be like Fred Astaire, but I couldnīt, so instead I went for the next best
thing, which was to be a fashion photographer.
David Bailey was not only part of an epoch but was one of its most dynamic
constituents. His original style was not static - modelled, like Irving
Penn's - but more mobile, like Richard Avedon's. Bailey's work moves from
still studio pictures via fashion photos in a landscape to street
photography r la William Klein and Robert Frank. The photographs were often
graphically powerful with high contrasts between lighter values and darker
tones. Where other photographers stood on the side and observed, Bailey went
directly into the centre of the action. His portraits documented the
personalities of the period and made them into icons of their time.
This is a National Museum of Photography Film & Television Touring
Exhibition in Collaboration with the Barbican Art Gallery
Curator: Leif Wigh
IMAGE:
David Bailey
Andy Warhol, 1965
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