Birth of the Cool: 1957-1969

by David Bailey

No photographer had a greater impact on the 1960s than David Bailey. The best of the new breed of fashion photographers who catapulted onto the scene in the early years of that decade, he himself would become as famous as all the famous faces on which he trained his camera. In fact Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow Up was inspired by Bailey. After Bailey, photography would never be the same again. David Bailey - Birth of the Cool tells for the first time the full story of Bailey's life and work from 1957 to 1969. Beginning with his early days in the East End, it follows his progress as assistant to photographer John French, his early years with Vogue; his close relationships with the stars of the pop music world - his pictures of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones will remain forever a part of the ichnography of Swinging London and the 1960s - and his friendships and love affairs with some of the period's most beautiful women - among them models Jean Shrimpton and Penelope Tree and actress Catherine Deneuve. Martin Harrison has brought together not only Bailey's most famous photographs, but also previously unknown images: pictures of Bailey's East End as well as private and previously unpublished documentary photography.

Genres: Photography, Art, Fashion, History

273 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

David Bailey is one of the most respected photographers in the world. He worked as a fashion photographer for Vogue magazine, but he is also known for his work on the ‘Swinging London’ scene from the 1960s, which gave him celebrity photographer status.

Bailey’s fashion work and celebrity portraiture, characterized by stark backgrounds and dramatic lighting effects, transformed British fashion and celebrity photography from chic but reserved stylization to something more youthful and direct. His work reflects the 1960s British cultural trend of breaking down antiquated and rigid class barriers by injecting a working-class or “punk” look into both clothing and artistic products. Bailey himself became a celebrity who epitomized “swinging London”; he was known for his affairs with several celebrated women, among them the model Jean Shrimpton and the actress Catherine Deneuve, whom he married in 1965 (divorced 1972). He is thought to have inspired the role of the photographer, Thomas, in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up (1966).

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile, but i finally found this book (thanks Alias East!) and like the pleasure of finding something that you really tried to find - the pleasure of the book even becomes more important, and sensual, to you. My interest in the photographic works of David Bailey is pretty much set in the 1960's. He's consistently fine, but the peak of his powers i feel is when he documented the faces of London. Or I should say the various 'Face" of London. That would include Mick Jagger, Jean Shrimpton, a very young Jane Birkin and various beautiful models of that period.

Bailey had the East London street know-it-all, and its interesting he did a series of iconic portraits of the Kings of East London - The Kray Twins. The mixture of the visual arts, rock n' roll, filmmakers, fashion, and gangsters is a heady mixture and a dynamic cocktail. You got to find this book and buy it. Essential recording of London circ. 1960's and other ports of the world. But it is seen through the eyes of an East London lad.

[Tom Axworthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Bailey was the most well known photographer of swinging London in the 1960s,in time, becoming as much a cultural icon of his times as his subjects. You can not see the film Blow Up without thinking it was based on Bailey.This volume is a stunning collection of his photos of the rock stars and models who defined one of the most creative and frenzied decades of recent history.

[Kriss Luckett-Ziesemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive bio and photo collection of one of the hippest fashion photographers of the 20th Century. David Bailey takes his subjects beyond the superficial wants of the average 1960s fashion rags, and adds a conceptual edge that earns him time with some of the era's most iconic subjects, and an illustrious title in photojournalistic history.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's one of the most beautiful photographies's book I've ever seen.
There is a great mix of fashion's photo (mainly with the beautiful Jean Shrimpton), of the Kray's twins and actors/policians and so on.
It's difficult to pick the most beautiful or most perfect photographies, they are all great.
This book is a good reminder of how was the "swinging sixties" in London.