A look back at David Bailey’s most iconic portraits from the 60s

Gagosian's latest exhibition looks back at the iconoclastic style of the ever talented photographer.

Take a trip back to the sixties with the likes of Andy Warhol and Jane Birkin, as the Gagosian gallery presents some of the mesmerising photographs David Bailey took over the career-defining era. Finding his own style by discarding the rigid rules of creatives past, Bailey honed his distinctive style of stark white backdrops, uncompromising crops and candidly, yet sharply, posed portraits.

Immortalising the vibrant energy of ’60s London, David Bailey’s work shot the stars of the time, but more than that, captured their youthful freedom like none other. Whether England’s rock icons like Mick Jagger and the Beatles, to fashion’s finest like Jean Shrimpton (his own muse of the time), or the legends of the silver screen like Catherine Deneuve and Michael Caine, Bailey epitomised their essence through art forever.

David Bailey © Andy Warhol, 1965 Silver Gelatin 42 x 42 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Jane Birkin, 1969 Silver Gelatin 42 x 42 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian

DAVID BAILEY: The Sixties runs from February 14–March 30, 2019 at Gagosian, Davies Street, London. Click through the gallery for a sneak preview into the exhibition.

David Bailey © Mick Fur Hood, 1964 Silver Gelatin 49 1/8 x 47 7/16 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © David Hockney, 1969 Platinum Palladium 30 1/2 x 22 inches Edition 4 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © John & Paul, 1965 Platinum Palladium 19.75 x 19.75 inches Edition 17 of 20 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Catherine Deneuve Contact Sheet, 1966 Digital pigment print of Ilford Galerie 44.3 x 38.4 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Andy Warhol, 1965 Silver Gelatin 42 x 42 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Jane Birkin, 1969 Silver Gelatin 42 x 42 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Jean Shrimpton, 1965 Silver Gelatin 49 1/8 x 47 1/2 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Man Ray, 1968 Platinum Palladium 19 x 19 inches Edition 8 of 15 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Marianne Faithful, 1964 Platinum Palladium 14.5 x 14.5 inches Edition 11 of 25 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
David Bailey © Michael Caine, 1965 Silver Gelatin 42 x 42 inches Edition 1 of 10 © David Bailey. Courtesy Gagosian
wordsKitty Robson
imagesDavid Bailey