Rob,
As I am very interested in the historical fashion photography topic, I wanted to add this video pertaining to Bailey. He "consults" on a friend's remake of one of his iconic images. I found it interesting. If you haven't seen it, I hope you do too..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuoTMHBnrxw
The interesting thing I find, however, is when he compares the 1960's shot next to his remake at the end, I find the remake lacking. The original had a certain je ne sais quoi. From the arch of the model's back, to the whimsical, mischievousness of her expression to the more comfortable and "at ease" pose. Bailey's original stands head and shoulders above the remake. If I were to take on a challenge like that, I would put my own spin on it and probably would have short lit it right off the bat. But, hey, that's just me...
Thanks for the link - I had seen part of it before, but not the whole thing. It was a daft thing to do, anyway, but both guys are only doing it for publicity. I think they shot a book together on nothing but close-ups of pudenda. What can one say? Okay, I wouldn't buy it.
As you are interested in the subject, here are some names you may or may not know that are worth doing a Google to check out. But, as with much Internet stuff, there are often pics credited to the wrong photographers in most of those group photo-listings that come up if you just type in the name followed by the word images...
From memory, these were the people ruling the British fashion photography scene during the 60s/70s - I link them because the two decades are really rather indistinct in my head, other than the sixties were about beauty and the seventies were not quite so much about beauty but more about cult, and different being more important than great.
Some of the foremost Brits were John French, David Bailey, Terence Donovan, Brian Duffy, Clive Arrowsmith, Albert Watson, Harri Peccinotti and also Norman Parkinson and Cecil Beaton who had already been doing it during the war.
Alongside them in UK magazines such as Vogue, Nova, Queen, but not British photographers, were: Frank Horvat, Sarah Moon, Hans Feurer, Jeanloup Sieff, Christa Peters, Guy Bourdin, Ronald Traeger, Just Jaeckin, Richard Avedon, John Rawlings, Ronald Traeger, Barry Lategan, Arnaud de Rosnay, Helmut Newton, Peter Lindberg, William Klein, Saul Leiter, Clifford Coffin, Alex Chatelain, Elizabeth Novick, Henry Clarke, Bruce Weber, Oliviero Toscani, Bill King, Franco Rubartelli, Rico Puhlmann, Deborah Turbeville, Sante D'Orazio and on and on. I grow dizzy trying to remember this stuff!
The main thing to know, if history matters, is this: there wasn't really any fashion photography revolution in the 60s due to the London guys; similar stuff was already being done across borders by people many years before them. The London thing about fashion and the Swinging Sixties was simply what brought it, the fashion business, to popular attention: it didn't invent it nor its representation.
You should look at Lillian Bassman, Martin Munkacsi, Regina Relang, Karen Radkai, Louis Faurer and many others in the States to understand that a helluva lot came over from America and it, in turn, from European Jewish émigré roots, well before the 60s.
There are so many others whose pics I sort of remember a bit, but their names have gone. There's one American fashion photographer who did lots in UK Vogue, who also did great stuff with ballet and discovered (I think!) and championed Christie Turlington. How hellish it is growing old and forgetting names... but to be honest, I always did! ;-) Got him! Arthur Elgort.
There's also an entire stable devoted to the various versions of Elle, including the great Gilles Bensimon. Guys such as Victor Skrebneski in Chicago, US Cosmopolitan's long-serving cover shooter who wore a peaked, military-looking sort of 'gay' cap... Francesco Scavullo!
Yeah, some great photographers took part in that business.
Rob
