David Royston Bailey, born in 1938, is a highly influential British photographer and director, known for his iconic fashion and portrait work. He started out as a photographic assistant at the John French studio (1959). He worked at John Cole's Studio Five (1960), and was eventually hired as a fashion photographer by British Vogue in 1960.
In the mid-1960s, he helped shape the cultural concept of Swinging London, a culture of high fashion and celebrity. Along with Terence Donovan and Brian Duffy, the three photographers socialized with actors, musicians, and royalty, becoming the first real celebrity photographers.
Bailey took the fashion world by storm, swapping the affected atmosphere of the studio for the harsh reality of the street. His collaboration during the 1960s with Jean Shrimpton, his first great muse, set the revolutionary tone for the following decade.
Bailey is a master of musical portraiture. A passionate trumpet player in his youth, he possesses an instinctive understanding of a musician's motivations. His early photographs of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones accurately capture the differences between the groups.
His reluctance to limit himself to a single style or format became his greatest strength.
