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A Brief Biography of Photographer David Bailey
By Paul Rance

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David Bailey was one of the cultural icons of the 'Swinging Sixties', and typified the breakthrough in that decade of the working classes 'making it' in the creative industries.

Not finding much inspiration at school, it was whilst learning to play the trumpet in the RAF that David Bailey's creative juices started to flow. After buying a Rolleiflex camera, Bailey set his sights on being a photographer when he left the Forces in August 1958. He gradually worked his way up the ladder, and an early break came when John French appointed him as a photographic assistant at his studio. In 1960, David Bailey became a fashion photographer for Vogue. From then on, Bailey was not only to make a name for himself, but also for some of the models he photographed, especially Jean Shrimpton. The 1966 film Blow Up, starring David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave, really garnered its two main characters from Bailey and Ms. Shrimpton.

Married four times, and never sacred of sticking his neck out, David Bailey's photograph of London gangsters the Krays caused controversy, and his strong anti-fur film showed him to be a compassionate man.