David Bailey, born into a time of chaos during world war II, is known as one of England's greatest photographers. What with swirling love affairs, many marriages, undeniable talent, and endless opportunities, he turned into the go-to guy. He taught himself photography, and carried himself to the John French studio, where he became an assistant in 1959. It wasn't long before all his freelance work was noticed and he was contacted by Vogue to become their fashion photographer.
Vogue became the catalyst of his career, and he sky-rocketed. Bailey began shooting for British Vogue in 1960, his interpretation of what he thought was British fashion and true celebrity persona gave him the opportunity to forever transform photography. Everyone was infatuated with his dramatic lighting effects and stark backgrounds, and not to mention everyone loved seeing household names in his photos.
Bailey was always consumed in taking photographs that served as portraits. Two very important and significant components that were always present in his photographs, were prominent shadows and candidly real expressions. Even when taking pictures of professional models he would rather them be candid than noticeably posed. He noted that taking pictures of actors was the hardest, because you never really knew who they were to begin with.
He focused on what was happening in the moment infront of him rather than reminiscing the past or mocking the future, that's why his pictures will never become outdated, they are simply timeless. Photographers whose pictures become outdated are the photographers that focus too much on the style or the hype of their time period rather than what is clearly meant to be the most important aspect of the photo; the subject.
Before him, many pictures were very bland and fabricated, Bailey broke down the cultural trend of rigid class barriers and instead changed it to a more rebellious punk look, with high fashion. He wanted truth to be the biggest light that shined on the picture, and it wasn't that the picture was expected to give you a confession, but that you learned something about the subject, or about what they felt of themselves. He is somewhere in that big mixing pot of what's responsible for the transformation of very conservative and stiff to free and thoughtful photography.
Bailey helped capture and basically construct the culture of high fashion and celebrity chic in London, by doing so he socialised and became associated with actors, musicians and royalty, and found himself elevated to celebrity status. He took many photos of celebrities, and some include John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and even Andy Warhol. His pictures always carried a looming feeling of mystery, he always left you wanting to know what was going on behind the scenes because his models seemed like they had something to say.
Bailey's pictures are timeless, of course you notice the little things in the picture that lead you to believe that they're not from the current time period, but you never feel like you need to switch to something more modern. Bailey always took pride in what he said when he first started his career, which was that he didn't want to take pictures that would date, and even at 74 years old he feels the same way.
