From Tate Britain I walked to The National Portrait Gallery to
see the David Bailey Stardust Exhibition, Bailey is a portrait
photographer I admire greatly (along with Avedon) and he has shot some of my favorite people such as Cartier-Bresson and Keith Richards. A highlight of the exhibition was the room of Rolling Stones photographs
as they are one of my favorite bands and he took photographs of them when they were in their most creative period and the end of the 1960's and early 70's. For me the best photograph of the exhibition was a colour photograph he took in
1968 of The Rolling Stones in a field walking towards the viewpoint. They all
look to stylish with their colourful clothing and look very natural as if they are just having a quiet walk and don't even know Bailey is there. The photograph gives the
impression that that period was a very free time for fashion and the arts which it was.
Another photograph that stood out for me was Bailey's photograph of Cartier
Bresson, the photograph was printed very large and contained Bresson in black
and white with his Leica. I think the reasons these photographs were highlights
for me was the fact they were of people I admire so you have a personal connection to the photograph. The show was very inspiring
and it was great to see his work up close, there were also various personal objects and contact sheets that were a great insight to his life and his work.
The Rolling Stones (1968)
(Unable to find Cartier-Bresson portrait)
