Born in Leytonstone in 1938 and raised in East Ham in London, Bailey left school at 15. After completing national service in the RAF, he began working as an assistant to the fashion photographer John French. In 1960, he shot his first fashion spread for Vogue; it featured the model Jean Shrimpton, who became his muse.
Bailey was part of a generation of photographers, along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, who brought a much-needed realism to fashion photography. He credits his working-class roots for this, saying that he always felt an outsider and was compelled to kick against the Establishment. He once said that if he hadn’t become a photographer he’d have been a boxer or a car thief, the only careers open to a lad from the East End.
His photographs of 1960s celebrities defined the decade: Mick Jagger wrapped in fur, The Beatles glowering at the camera, and Michael Caine with an unlit cigarette. He was the inspiration behind the cult '60s film Blow Up and in 1971, at just 33 years old, he had his first museum exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.
In recent years, Bailey has published several books on the changing face of London’s East End as well as a memoir, Look Again. To celebrate his 75th birthday, the National Portrait Gallery held a retrospective of his photographs that spanned his prolific career. The NPG’s Director at the time, Sandy Nairne, said, ‘Bailey produces images of people that cut to the quick. Never bound by stylistic convention, the engagement between artist and subject is palpable in the final print.’
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Michael Caine, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Jean Shrimpton, 1960s
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Lennon and McCartney, January 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Jean Shrimpton, 1963
DAVID BAILEY (b.1938)
The Kray Brothers, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Blue Flower
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Nelson Mandela, 1997
DAVID BAILEY (b. 1938)
Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, 1969
DAVID BAILEY (b. 1938)
Michael Caine, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (b. 1938)
Orchid I, 2007
DAVID BAILEY (NÉ EN 1938)
John Lennon et Paul McCartney, Janvier 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney, January 1965
David Bailey (b. 1938)
David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (b. 1938)
David Bailey's Box of Pinups, 1965
David Bailey (b. 1938)
Damien Hirst
NORMAN PARKINSON (1913-1990)
Wedding Outfits, Eaton Square, 1937
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
The Kray Brothers, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (b. 1938)
Stones Contact, 1968
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups, 1965
David Bailey (b. 1938)
The Kray Brothers, 1965
David Bailey (b. 1938)
David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, 1988
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Jean Shrimpton for Vogue, 1963
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Jean Shrimpton Twist , New York, 1962
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
John Lennon, 1960s
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski, 1969
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Michael Caine, 1965
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Kray Twins, 1968
DAVID BAILEY (B. 1938)
Jean Shrimpton, 1963
David Bailey (B. 1938)
Rio Montage
DAVID BAILEY (b.1938)
Catherine Bailey, Saint Paul de Vence, 1983
DAVID BAILEY (b.1938)
Catherine Bailey, 1983
DAVID BAILEY (b.1938)
Tahiti, 1983
DAVID BAILEY (b.1938)
Jean-Michel Basquiat, 1989