David Bailey was born in East London, in 1938. At the age of 18, Bailey started his national service. This is where he learnt to use a camera. Bailey’s career took off in the early 1960s and since then he has photographed the likes of Jean Shrimpton and the Kray Twins.
Bailey started off his career with his friends Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy. These three were commonly known as the ‘Black Trinity.’ The three of them “represented the young, working-class, heterosexual new face of fashion.” Bailey’s reputation was built on talent for composition which combined stark white backgrounds, harsh crops and striking poses.
Bailey ‘reinvented and revolutionized fashion photography’ with his new style. In the era of hippies and rock ‘n’ roll Bailey had a perfect platform to display his skills. Bailey’s style consists of carefully positioned lighting and white backgrounds. Depending on who Bailey was photographing he would take extreme care with each one. For example, when he photographed the Kray Twins the camera looked upwards and so did the lighting. This subtle detail reflected what many people thought of them, as respected gangsters of the East end of London, and installed the idea of their power. Another pair of famous Bailey images are the 1965 portrait of Michael Caine and the portrait of Jude Law. Michael Caine, at the time, was starring in the film The Ipcress File where he played Harry Palmer a cockney spy. In the image, Bailey had positioned the lighting to one side which casted a dark shadow over the side of his face with the camera slightly above him. With the recreation with Jude Law, the camera angle and the lighting is the same as Law played the same character as Caine.
For my David Bailey pastiche, I used the image he took of Twiggy in 1966. In the photo, the lighting is to one side of Twiggy’s face casting a shadow over the other half. This highlights Twiggy’s adolescent features. Also the camera is at the same level as her eyes, this minor detail gives up the illusion of equality between Twiggy and us. Bailey’s focus on Twiggy’s face shows off her surprised expression and large eyes which show the essence of the 60s. The soft contrast between white and black helps to emphasis her large eyes.
In my pastiche, I got my model Sharae to sit in front of a white background and pull a surprised expression similar to the one Twiggy pulls. I then set the lights up until they were right. After taking the image I then edited the image on Photoshop to make it black and white.
http://www.beetlesandhuxley.com/david-bailey-defining-1960s.html
https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/3gLiztVGSo0WLw
Fashion Through the Key Hole 