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.
Mick Jagger Goats Head Soup Album Art Version
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Mick Jagger Goats Head Soup Album Art Version, 1973 Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 101 x 148 cm Sheet: 111 x 158 cm Edition of 10 + 2 AP
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
$16,604
Kate Bush
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Kate Bush, 1978 Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 36.83 x 36.83 cm Sheet: 42 x 59.4 cm Edition of 10
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
Patti Smith
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Patti Smith, 1978 Archival Inkjet on paper Edition of 15 Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 36.83 x 47.76 cm Sheet: 42 x 59.4 cm
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
$27,673
Elton John
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Elton John, 1971 Archival Inkjet on paper, framed Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 50.8 x 50.8 cm Sheet: 58.4 x 58.4 cm Edition of 12 + 3AP
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
Alice Cooper
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Alice Cooper, 1973 Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 36.83 x 36.86 cm Sheet: 42 x 59.4 cm Edition of 10
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
$2,925
H 20 in W 16 in
Muscle Boy, New York, Signed Archival Iris Print, Harlem, 1963, Edition 25/100
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Muscle Boy, Harlem, 1963 by Leonard Freed is a signed and numbered archival Iris print. The edition 25/100 was in a planned edition of 100 and halted at 25 prints (as annotated on ve...
Black and White, Archival Pigment, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital...
$3,000
H 13 in W 19 in
1960s Limited Edition Black and White Photograph, Martin Luther King, MLK, 13x19
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Martin Luther King (MLK), 1964 by Leonard Freed is an iconic black and white documentary photograph, a portrait of one of the most influential African American personalities and civi...
Archival Ink, Photographic Film, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digital Pigment
$2,350
H 13 in W 9 in
Williamsburg, New York City, Jewish, Street Photography 1950s, Limited Edition
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Capturing the Jewish diaspora and the Hasidic community in Brooklyn, New York in the 1950s, this is a subject which Jewish American photographer Leonard Freed from Brooklyn widely co...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
$2,650
H 19 in W 13 in
Muscle Boy Photograph, Limited Edition 11/15, Harlem, New York City 1963, Signed
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Muscle Boy is an iconic image by Leonard Freed who was a pioneer in documentary photography. In this photo a boy flexes his muscles for the camera perhaps making a statement about...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
$1,600
H 24 in W 17 in
Tree, Color Photograph of Surma Tribe Boys, Africa, 24x17, Edition of 5, Signed
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
A contemporary color photograph by Jean-Michel (JM) Voge, Tree, 1996 is a portrait of Surma Tribe boys from the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa. This is an...
Archival Paper, Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,500
H 19 in W 13 in
Little Surma Boy, Color Photography, on Handmade Paper, Signed Edition 2/5
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Little Surma Boy, 1996 by Jean-Michel (JM) Voge, is a contemporary color photograph of a child from the Surma tribe in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa. The photograph is printe...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,850
H 13 in W 19 in
Portrait Fernando Botero, Color Photograph, 13x19, Limited Edition of 5, Signed
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Fernando Botero in his Studio, Paris, 1992 by Jean-Michel Voge is a 13" x 19" archival pigment print in an edition of 5, printed by the photographer on handmade Japanese Awagami pape...
Archival Ink, Photographic Film, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Arc...
$1,800
H 13 in W 19 in
Two Sisters, Africa, Color Photograph, on Handmade Awagami Paper, 1/5, Signed
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
On handmade Japanese Awagami paper, Two Sisters from a series on the Nomadic Surma tribe in Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa is by JM Voge. An editioned work,...
Archival Paper, Archival Ink, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$2,500
H 13 in W 19 in
1979 Black and White Photo of Policeman with Puppet and Gun, New York, Ed. 1/10
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Policeman with Puppet and Gun, New York City, USA 1979 by Leonard Freed is a black and white limited edition photograph from Freed's Policework series. The photograph, 13" x 19", is an archival pigment print with the photographer's copyright stamp and estate signature by the photographer's widow, Brigitte Freed. The print is in an edition of 10. Available: 1/10, 10/10. Provenance: Freed Estate *** Artist’s Bio: Leonard Freed (1929-2006) was an American photographer from Brooklyn, New York. His "Black in White America" series made him known as a documentarian, a social documentary photographer. Freed worked as a freelance photographer from 1961 onwards and as a Magnum photographer Freed traveled widely abroad and, in the US, photographing African Americans (1964-65), events in Israel (1967-68, 1973), and the New York City police department (1972-79). Freed's coverage of the American civil rights...
Archival Ink, Photographic Film, Archival Paper, Digital, Archival Pigme...
$420
H 7.88 in W 11.82 in D 0.04 in
Karine / Contemporary, Color, Photography, Analog, 21st Century, Hollywood
By Tao Ruspoli
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
'Karine', Edition 2/10, 20x30cm, 2018 Art Print on Velvet Watercolor Paper, 310gsm, Bright White, Acid Free Signature label and Certificate. About Tao Ruspoli (born 7 November 1975)...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment
$1,500
H 19 in W 13 in
Dandy, Portrait Photograph of Surma Boy, Africa, Signed, Edition 2/5, 1996
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Dandy, 1996 by Jean-Michel Voge is a photographic portrait of a colorfully painted boy with a feathered headdress from the Surma Tribe in Ethiopia, Africa. The photograph is printed by the artist on handmade Awagami Japanese paper. Signed on verso (back of photograph), In an edition of 5. Available: 2/5. Provenance: JM Voge Archive *** Artist's Bio: Jean-Michel (JM) Voge (b. 1949) is a fine art photographer, formerly editorial freelancer for magazines, such as Madame Figaro (1982-2010), Le Figaro Magazine, Point of View, Marie France, Town and Country, European Travel and LIFE, Fortune Magazine, and AD Spain. The French photographer published a critically-acclaimed monograph on portraits of Europeans, "Figures of Europe," which include portraits of influential Europeans through 1990. Among JM's personal projects, he photographed the Surma tribe in the Omo Valley...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,500
H 19 in W 13 in
Nomad Princesses, Omo Valley, Africa, Color Photograph, Signed, Edition 1/5
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Nomad Princesses, 1996 by Jean-Michel (JM) Voge, is a contemporary color photograph 19" x 13" of two bare-breasted women with painted faces, enlarged ears, and tribal jewelry from th...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
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...