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.
Rolling Stones Colour Out of Our Heads
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Rolling Stones Colour Out of Our Heads, 1968 Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 50.8 x 50.8 cm Sheet: 58...
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
![Rolling Stones [Avebury Hill]](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/david-bailey-photography-rolling-stones-avebury-hill-for-sale/a_21542/1666358958319/rolling_stones_avebury_master.jpeg?width=240)
Rolling Stones [Avebury Hill]
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Rolling Stones [Avebury Hill], 1968 Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 50.8 x 74.92 cm Sheet: 58.4 x 82.53 cm Edition of 10
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
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
$27,469
Dr Dre
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
David Bailey Dr Dre, 2001 Archival Inkjet on paper Image: 50.8 x 63.58 cm Sheet: 58.4 x 71.2 cm Edition of 10
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
David Bowie
By David Bailey
Located in London, GB
Archival Inkjet on paper Signed by the artist, on verso Image: 50.8 x 50.8 cm Sheet: 58.4 x 58.4 cm Framed: 66.5 x 66.5 x 4 cm Edition of 10
Archival Ink, Archival Pigment
$1,699
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...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Arc...
$1,600
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...
$1,444
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 Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
Seeds - Contemporary, Polaroid, Men
By Ariel Shelleg
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Seeds Series - 2018, Edition 1/10 plus 2 Artist Proof, 50x50cm, Digital Print based on a Polaroid on Hahnemühle photo rag paper, not mounted. Signed on back with certificate. Ariel ...
Archival Paper, Archival Ink, Polaroid, Archival Pigment, Color
$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...
$1,600
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 Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,600
H 19 in W 13 in
Boy with Calf, Color Photograph, Signed Edition 2/5, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Boy with Calf, 1996 by Jean-Michell Voge, is a contemporary color photograph 19" x 13" of a nomadic tribal child from the Surma tribe, painted from head to toe, posing with a calf wi...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,600
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
Rooster, Africa, Color Photograph, on Handmade Paper, Signed, Edition 1/5, 1996
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
The subject wears a tribal mouthpiece lip plate and carries a rooster in her arms. Rooster, 1996 by Jean-Michel Voge, is a contemporary color photograph of a villager, a female nomad...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,600
H 13 in W 19 in
Painted Faces, Color Photography of Surma Women, Africa, Signed, 2/5 Edition
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Painted Faces, 1996 by Jean-Michel Voge, is a contemporary color photograph 13" x 19" of two women with painted faces from the Surma tribe in the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, Africa. Th...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Archival Pigment, Digi...
$1,800
H 23.4 in W 16.5 in
Marc Chagall in His Studio, 1984, Archival Pigment Print, Signed, 2/5
By Jean-Michel Voge
Located in New york, NY
Marc Chagall in His Studio, France, 1984 by Jean-Michel Voge is a 23.4" x 16.5" archival pigment print edition 2/5 printed by the artist on Japanese Awagami handmade paper -- signed ...
Photographic Film, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Rag Paper, Digital, Arc...
Kansas Bowling
By Tao Ruspoli
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
'Kansas Bowling' - 2018 Edition of 10, 20x30cm, printed on Velvet Watercolor, 310gsm, Bright White, Acid Free, Signature label and Certificate. About Tao Ruspoli (born 7 Novembe...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Color, Archival Pigment