David Bailey- UNIT 57 Photography

Introduction to this task
My task was to do some research into the iconic British photographer David Bailey. I had to find out about his history and what it was that inspired and led to him becoming a photographer. I also researched the techniques he used and how he applied those techniques by looking at some examples of his work.

Pass Criteria

A Brief History of David Bailey

• David Bailey was born January 2nd 1938 meaning he is now 78 years old. He was born in London, England 
• He is a British photographer who is best known for working for British Vogue from the 1960's onwards. He worked in fashion and with celebrities. He transformed British fashion and celebrity photography with his use of dramatic lighting effects and backgrounds
• Bailey came from a working class East London Background. He left school at a young age and work in a series of different jobs and served with the RAF.
• As a youth he was told that he had very limited jobs choices. He has said "You could become a boxer, a car thief or maybe a musician". 
• From when he was young he was interested in painting and photography and in 1959 he worked in an apprenticeship at the John French studio where he became involved in photography
• In 1960 he began to work for British Vogue where he worked for 15 years both as staff and freelance. This would mean that he would not be restricted to one magazine or one style of photography and freed him up to whatever kind of work he wanted
• He essentially became a celebrity himself to a certain extent. He was known for his affairs with several known women among them being model Jean Shrimpton and actress Catherine Deneuve whom he married
• He has actually been married four times and has three children

Examples of Baileys Work

The Kray Twins

The Beatles

Michael Caine

Merit Criteria

Techniques

• One of David Baileys methods was to get to know the person he was taking a picture of. He would spend up to two hours getting to know the person and around 5 minutes simply to take the pictures. He would do this so that he could capture that persons personality in the image.
• Bailey's main techniques are his use of background and dramatic lighting effects. This is why his work is highly regarded. He would use these to inject a working class sort of look into his photos
• Bailey always understood lighting greatly, he was not amazing technologically speaking but understood how to take a photograph

Style

• His pictures are black and white
• Graphic
• High contrasts between lighter and darker tones
• Mixed white backgrounds with harsh lighting

Distinction Criteria

Baileys Inspiration and how has he inspired others

• Bailey's inspiration has come from past art and photography
• One person who really inspired Bailey was Picasso and his works
• David Bailey's life and works inspired the character within a movie that came out in 1966 called 'Blow Up (1966)'. The main character is about a fashion photographer called Thomas.
• His work reflects the 1960's British cultural trends and broke down the class barriers by giving his photos a working class look to them. In a way culture and society was also an inspiration of his

Examples of Picasso

Boy With Pipe

My Opinion on David Baileys Works

I feel that his works/photos are quite iconic and very distinct in how their shot and presented. His works would be instantly recognisable to those who are knowledgeable in the mainstream world of photography and that is because of his own unique style. In his works the people he is photographing stand out and this is because of how he has used the lighting and the background in order to bring out specific details in the foreground. As a result it causes very high quality images.

What have I learnt?

• I learnt about David Bailey and his methods
• I learned about his history and what it was that led him to becoming a photographer
• I learned that Picasso was Bailey's inspiration for becoming a photographer
• Bailey was a celebrity photographer who took pictures of some of the most iconic people between the 1960s and the present.

How will this help me in the future?

By looking at David Baileys techniques, style and his portraiture closely I will be able to imitate all of this when it comes to taking my own portrait pictures as it will mean that they end up looking more professional. By using Baileys method of getting to know his models on a personal level this can be something that I could do in order to capture my models personality in the images. I will also look at his dramatic lighting effects and apply this to my own work