At 15, the London-born David Bailey was jazz mad and Picasso loving but, being a dyslexic cockney, was booted out of school. Escape from gritty East London seemed unlikely until he picked up a Rolleiflex during his stint in the National Service. Three years later, in 1960, he was under contract at British Vogue.
Prodigiously talented, Bailey was also wildly charismatic and uncommonly pretty, a high-octane amalgam that no doubt fueled his meteoric rise. Soon, he was chronicling, and surfing, the cultural tsunami that transformed London in the Swinging Sixties, when young creatives from music, fashion, advertising, theater, film, TV and journalism toppled the British establishment to become the new royalty.
This was the moment when the seeds of celebrity culture were sown. Bailey snapped all these revolutionary aristos: John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Michael Caine, Tom Stoppard and David Hockney. Each and every one looks impossibly dewy and fresh and brims with an entirely modern derring-do.
So, too, do “the beautiful birds,” as Bailey called the alluring models and actresses who defined that decade: the exquisite Jean “Shrimp” Shrimpton, Twiggy, Penelope Tree, Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, Catherine Deneuve. A number of them became his lovers, Deneuve his wife (he’s had four), for a time.
It was a wild ride for an East End lad and literally the stuff of movies. Bailey was the inspiration for the prowling fashion photographer Thomas, played by pretty boy David Hemmings, in one of the iconic films of that era, Antonioni’s Blowup.
But despite his playboy persona and lucrative work in fashion advertising, Bailey has always possessed real psychological depth and artistic ambition. He can snap like few others. His closest peer in spontaneity, insight and cool was Richard Avedon. Both preferred a white backdrop, strong lighting and a tight focus to capture that rare telling moment.
Someone shot with eyes shut is not an accident with Bailey but a revelation. To this day, he can’t explain how he works his magic, although he does liken it to shamanic conjuring. He makes no secret that he spends most of his time gabbing with his subject — he’s curious about everyone. Sometimes, the chatter is a seduction; occasionally, it becomes good-naturedly pugilistic. And then, in mere moments, the individual is sized and seized by his camera.
Browse David Bailey's revolutionary portraiture and fashion photography on 1stDibs.
David Bailey Sumo, Signed, Limited Edition Book with Marc Newson Stand
By David Bailey, TASCHEN, Marc Newson
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The David Bailey SUMO. Over 300 of the greatest portraits of our time, printed big and bold. In 1965, portrait and fashion photographer David Bailey released his groundbreaking boo...
Aluminum
Vogue Magazine September 1963 Framed Cover
By David Bailey
Located in Stamford, CT
Vogue September 1963 framed original cover. Model Brigitte Bauer photographed by David Bailey. As found framed condition in gold wood frame.
Glass, Wood, Paper
$1,200
'Michael Cooper' 1965 Half-Tone Photo Print For David Bailey's 'Box of Pin-Ups'
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Michael Cooper, photographer, doesn't so much dress as dress up. And his two-year-old son wears exactly the same clothes. Art Sz: 14" x 12" Frame Sz: 19 1/2" x 17 1/2" In bespoke...
Photographic Paper
$12,500
David Bailey. Signed and numbered SUMO Book and Fine Art Print, Andy Warhol
By David Bailey
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Art Edition (No. 226–300), with the print Andy Warhol, 1965. The book and print are both numbered and signed by David Bailey, accompanied by a bookstand designed...
Silver Gelatin
$12,500
Fine Art Print, Jean Shrimpton & SUMO book by David Bailey, Signed & Numbered
By David Bailey
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Art Edition (No. 76–150), with the print Jean Shrimpton, 1965. The book and print are both numbered and signed by David Bailey, accompanied by a bookstand designed...
Silver Gelatin
P. J. Proby 1965 Half-Tone Photo Print For David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
P. J. Proby, Hollywood actor who starred in the movie 'Greatest Story Never Told' & in 1964 appeared in the Brian Epstein's TV spectacular, 'Meet the Bea...
Photographic Paper
$1,200
'James Wedge: The Mysterious Milliner' 1965 For David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups'
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
James "Jimmy" Wedge (born 1939) is a British fashion designer, milliner and fashion photographer "He's a hopeless businessman, and though he should have made a lot of money, one som...
Photographic Paper
Cecil Beaton and Rudolf Nureyev c1965 For David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Cecil Beaton & Rudolf Nureyev c1965 Art Sz: 14"H x 12"W Frame Sz: 19 1/2"H x 17 1/2"W w/ bespoke lavender mat w/ Brit racing green
Photographic Paper
$1,250
Gerald McCann: Dress Designer 1965 Half-Tone Print Photo For David Bailey's Box
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Photo Sz: 15"H x 13"W Frame Sz: 20"H x 18"W w/ green lacquer wood frame & lavender mat Gerald McCann, dress designer, is the Peter Pan of the rag trade: he is in his late thirties but, saucily sporting a Bud Flanagan overcoat, still looks a boy. He's a clever businessman with a clever tongue. He's a nice giggly and soft person, but he always surrounds himself with tough people! Gerald McCann (5 November 1931 – 26 June 2019) was a British fashion designer who was considered among the leading lights of the Swinging London fashion scene, alongside names such as Mary Quant, subsequently moving to the United States to continue his career with Larry Levine...
Photographic Paper
'Jimmy Woolf' 1965 from David Bailey's 'Box of Pin-Ups'
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Producer of 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Room at the Top' who was one of the most successful impresarios in the British film industries Art Sz: 14" x 12" Fram...
Photographic Paper
$1,800
Brian Morris 1965 Half-Tone Photo Print by David Bailey for His Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Manager of the Ad Lib made it for a time the most successful nightclub in the world! Art Sz: 14"H x 12"W Frame Sz: 19 1/2"H x 17 1/2"W in bespoke lavender mat w/ Brit racing green ...
Photographic Paper
Rudolf Nureyev 1965 Half-Tone Photo Print For David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
The legendary dancer c1965 Art Sz: 14" x 12" Frame Sz: 19 1/2" x 17 1/2" in bespoke lavender mat w/ Brit racing green
Photographic Paper
Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928
By Lora Webb Nichols
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV plexiglas, free shipping and a 14 day return policy. Ted Higby at Skyline Rodeo, 1928 15 x 12 inch gelatin silver print Image Size: 14 x 8.5 inches Frame size: 22.5 x 17.5 x 2 inches Edition of 15 Lora Webb Nichols was born in 1883 and grew up in the small mining town of Encampment, Wyoming. At the age of 16 Lora received her first camera and from that moment and for the next few decades she produced work that is both stunning in its singular voice and revealing in the world it opens up for us. At first Nichols photographed her family, friends, and the landscape around Encampment, but when the town experienced a copper mining boom Nichols expanded her scope to become a photographer for hire shooting portraits and industrial photographs. When the boom collapsed, Nichols took the risk of opening her own business in Encampment - The Rocky Mountain Studio - which opened in 1925. The studio ran for ten years, accumulating 24,000 negatives that illustrate the lives and environment of the people living in and around the town while creating a distinctive and surprising body of work. If one was to attempt an analogy – Nichols’ pictures fit somewhere between Lartigue and Lange - joyful and generous while objectively intimate. In particular what seems to distinguish Nichols’ work is the way she sees the world from a female perspective. As Vince Aletti...
Silver Gelatin
School Wall Chart, Valletta, Fortress and Harbour
Located in Wolfurt, AT
This poster with a photo of the city Valletta (Malta) was produced by Europa et Schola Edition and used in schools for cultural education. Foto: Government Tourist Board, Malta; H...
Paper
$3,312
H 44.5 in W 13.4 in D 13.4 in
Antique Carved Oak Church, Gothic Revival Studio Easel Display Stand or Pedestal
Located in Lisse, NL
Unique Gothic Revival two shelf sculpture stand with a beautiful patina. This impressive and adjustable Gothic stand dates from circa 1890. To find this rare and sizeable antique mo...
Wood, Oak
Joan and Quintana Roo (Frame 27a.)
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes free shipping for unframed prints and a 14 day return policy. Joan Didion by Julian Wasser 20 x 16 inch gelatin silver print Edition 3 of 15 Signed on verso by Julian Wasser *Please inquire for international shipments. Quotes will be provided at cost via FedEx. Description - Julian Wasser started his career in photography in the Washington DC bureau of the Associated Press where he met and accompanied the famous news photographer Weegee – who would become a lasting influence on him. In the mid-60s Wasser moved to Los Angeles as a contract photographer for TIME, LIFE, and FORTUNE magazines and becoming internationally known as the go to guy for getting candid but memorably composed photographs. (His iconic images of Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston; Marcel Duchamp and Eve Babitz; and a young Jodie Foster are already classics.) In 1968 TIME Magazine assigned Wasser to go to the home of the young writer Joan Didion whose book Slouching Towards Bethlehem was becoming a literary sensation. “I’d read her fiction,” said Wasser. “and she didn’t miss a thing. She was such a heavyweight person.” Wasser shot Didion at her rented house on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, where she lived with her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and their daughter, Quintana Roo. “It was a nice, cozy house,” Wasser remembers. “And she was a very easy person to talk to...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (02158) 23...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$5,000
H 11 in W 14 in
Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp playing chess during Duchamp's Pasadena Art Museum
By Julian Wasser
Located in New York, NY
Listing is for an unframed print and includes free shipping to the continental US and 14-day return policy. Julian Wasser Eve Babitz and Marcel Duchamp pl...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
George Platt Lynes Original B&W Fashion Photograph from Vogue Magazine
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This silver gelatin photograph was printed in New York City in the 1990s from the original negative. George Platt Lynes (1907 to 1955) was a legenda...
Other
Marc Bankowsky, Plaster Pedestal, France, 2008
By Marc Bankowsky
Located in New York, NY
Freestanding contemporary polyester plaster pedestal by Marc Bankowsky. Marc studied at L’école Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) and at The Ecole Nationale Supérieur...
Plaster
Framed Vintage Life-Size Marilyn Monroe Pin-Up Poster
Located in Chicago, IL
A super fun vintage framed life-size pin-up poster of a young Marilyn Monroe in a red and white striped bikini and showing her Classic shining smile.
Paper
Occasional Table by Maurice Bailey for Monteverdi Young
By Maurice Bailey, Monteverdi-Young
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Round occasional table by Maurice Bailey for Monteverdi Young. This piece would be perfect as a large entry way table for a foyer or a game table. The walnut top showcases a beautifu...
Walnut
Brazilian Modern Handcrafted Studio Sculpture Stand Signed
By Sergio Rodrigues
Located in San Diego, CA
Brazilian Modern handcrafted studio sculpture stand. Doweled joinery. Signed with maker's initials, with studio tag. 1970s.
Rosewood
Scholl Wall Chart, Rome
Located in Wolfurt, AT
This poster with a photo of the city Rome (Italy) was produced by Europa et Schola Edition and used in schools for cultural education. Foto: Servizio delle Informationi , Roma...
Paper
$5,850
H 57 in W 17 in D 17 in
Neo-Gothic 19th Century Octagonal Pedestal / Stand / Architectural Model
Located in Troy, NY
An unusual pedestal of octagonal Neo-Gothic form, the molded base supporting eight shaped and carved columns decorated with typical Gothic designs, topped by eight spikes surrounding...
Oak
English Mahogany Shaving Stand/Plant Stand
Located in Woodbury, CT
The upper tier of this shaving stand originally would have had an open ring that supported a bowl. It has since been filled with a fine mahogany board, offering the opportunity to pl...
Mahogany
A Chinese Carved Wood Display Stand with Inset Stone Top
Located in Chicago, IL
An elegant Chinese display stand featuring a pale stone inset top and an intricately carved wooden base with a rich, dark lacquered patina. The decorative apron features finely carve...
Elm
Her Majesty, a Photographic History 1926–Today, XL Book
By David Bailey, TASCHEN
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Meet the Queen The public and private life of the world’s most famous monarch Born in 1926, married in 1947, crowned as Queen in 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has carried out her duty for more than six decades. TASCHEN celebrates her remarkable royal story with a new edition of Her Majesty, a definitive photographic collection of her public and private life. Brimming with history, tradition, glamour, and culture, the book spans the Queen’s early years right through to her most recent state tours and ceremonies. Along the way, we trace her coming of age during World War II; her marriage, motherhood, and coronation; her encounters with such icons of their age as the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, and JFK; and her extensive international travels. We visit the spectacular royal palaces and enjoy the infectious celebration of royal weddings and jubilees. We witness the elegance of official portraits, and the tenderness and humor of informal and family moments. As much a showcase of top photographers as a royal celebration, Her Majesty includes the work of such luminaries as Cecil Beaton, Studio Lisa, Dorothy Wilding...
Paper
The Earl of Snowdon 1965 for David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
c.1965 b&w photo of Tony Armstrong-Jones aka The Earl of Snowdon shot by David Bailey for his 1st & now iconic portrait folio "Box of Pin-Ups" Image Sz...
Photographic Paper
Sold
H 14 in W 12 in
Donald Grollman aka 'The Bongo Wolf' 1965 For David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
David Bailey b&w photo of Donald Grollman aka Bongo Wolf c1965 Art Sz: 14"H x 12"W Frame Sz: 19 1/2"H x 17 1/2"W In bespoke lavender mat w/ Brit racing green Bongo Wolf was a le...
Photographic Paper
Sold
H 14 in W 12 in
Vidal Scissors Sassoon 1965 Half-Tone Photo Print For David Bailey's Box Pin Ups
By David Bailey
Located in Bristol, CT
Vidal Sassoon, CBE (1928-2012). British hairdresser to the stars! 1965 Art Sz: 14" x 12" Frame Sz: 19.5" x 17.5" in bespoke lavender mat w/ Brit racing...
Photographic Paper
David Bailey. Art Edition No. 1-75
By David Bailey
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Art Edition (No. 1–75), with the print John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965. The book and print are both numbered and signed by David Bailey, accompanied by a bookstand designed...
David Bailey SUMO Art Edition Book by TASCHEN
By David Bailey
Located in Napa, CA
This SUMO-sized retrospective celebrates one of the world’s most influential photographers and the culmination of two years researching his archives. Gathering portraits from the 195...
Paper
David Bailey "Beady Minces" Book, 1973
By David Bailey
Located in CA, CA
First edition, published by Mathews Miller Dunbar/Bailey Co-Production, 1973. Beady Minces compiles many of Bailey’s remarkable photographs taken from all around the world between 1957 and 1973. In his introduction, Terence Donovan writes; “David Bailey manages to react to the most normal things in an abnormal and interesting manner”, a sentence that more than aptly connects the curious variety of subject matter presented in this book. Even the choice of coupled photographs...
"David Bailey & Anjelica Huston – Is That So Kid" Book, Signed
By Anjelica Huston, David Bailey
Located in CA, CA
Signed first edition, published by Steidl, 2014. Anjelica Huston's indefinable cinematic look, that's what happens when an icon photographs an icon....
"David Bailey – Bailey NW1, " Book 1982
By David Bailey
Located in CA, CA
First edition, published by J. M. Dent & Sons, 1982. Hands down the best David Bailey book cover, and a bloody good book as well. Bailey’s urban landscapes photographed around Lon...
David Bailey - NY JS DB 62, Signed
By David Bailey
Located in CA, CA
Signed first edition, published by Steidl, 2007. NY JS DB 62 compiles photographs taken by David Bailey, one of the most successful British fashion and portrait photographers of h...
David Bailey – Havana 'Signed'
By David Bailey
Located in CA, CA
First edition, published by Steidl, 2006. Through a life-long quest to photograph Fidel Castro, and a realization that he never would, David Bailey explores the streets of Cuba’s ...
David Bailey & Peter Evans – Goodbye Baby & Amen 1969
By David Bailey, David Bailey and Peter Evans 1
Located in CA, CA
First edition, published by Condé Nast/Collins, 1969. Goodbye Baby & Amen, A Saraband For The Sixties. This remarkable monograph encompasses the utopia and success of the 1960s through the work of the most iconic photographer of the era. Peter Evans...
Rolling Stones: Art Edition A
By TASCHEN, David Bailey
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Art Edition No. 1-75 by David Bailey Mick Jagger (1973) Book and signed pigment print. 20 x 14 in. $ 20,000 A historic SUMO-size edition of 1600 copies. Signed by Mick, Keit...