Bailey Will Save Me

When I was younger I could never answer the question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, mainly because I didn’t know.

I never truly felt like I was good at anything until I found photography. But as of late, I have felt like the passion I once has for this way of expression has somewhat faded. I can’t even begin to describe what it is like to loose, ‘it’. I am not 100% sure what ‘it’ exactly is, but nevertheless it’s dwindled. I once would get up in the morning, willing it to be a day of beauty and life just waiting to be frozen in my frame. But now…

Today I went to a lecture at 9am, returned a camera to the university stores, then came home and sat staring at my images for hours, willing them to edit themselves. I am not sure what happened to my passion but I don’t like its absence.

So…

I returned to where I started. I took myself back to when I was little, flicking through magazine after magazine, ripping out the images I liked to add to my stash. There were only a few people that stood out to me at that age (mainly because I am dyslexic and I cant remember many more than that!) David Bailey was my main photographic hero.

He has that charm and spice, which nowadays would be referred to as ‘swag’!

And it reflected in his work. His images revolutionized that way fashion photography developed. His images of Jean Shrimpon were gleefully accepted into the fashion industry as a fresh outlook on young fashion. They made way for the new, and cleared out the old, stiff, and conservative way of seeing. 

In these images shot in New York, Jean made high-end fashion accessible to the masses. Coming from a modest background herself, she had that look of honesty and truth about her. It was a look that every young woman (or man) reading Vogue, at that time, could relate to. However these images to me said more about Bailey than Jean. He was pushing against the walls that restricted him and his ideas. He fought against his bonds to create a whole new way of seeing the world. By doing this he revolutionized one of the stiffest and unyielding industries, uprooting them and pushing them into the new age that we still see today.

It is this passion and drive that I am momentarily lacking. I know what I want out of my images. I just need to do it. I need baileys drive and zeal to achieve it. And I will achieve it.

JM

           

   

David Bailey, Photographing Jean Shrimpton.