David Bailey - Photographer of 1960's Icons

Probably the most famous of the Sixties photographers was David Bailey who started as a photographer with the Daily Express in 1959 working as an assistant to fashion photographer John French. He left to set up his own studio and managed to acquire a contract with Vogue which he used to turn Jean Shrimpton into one of the leading models of the Sixties. David and Jean lived together soon after they met.

His fresh and irreverent approach to fashion photography launched his career photographing most of the key cultural figures from the worlds of pop music, literature and theatre with a simple and dramatic style.

His pictures are black-and-white, minimalist, very graphic with high contrasts between lighter values and darker tones, and shot on a variety of formats.

His first book of portraits, Box of Pin-ups, was published in 1965. He continues to work to this day.