Hasta La Ideas

David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, 1973 copyright Duffy Archive

A new full career retrospective of the late, great photographer Brian Duffy’s work opens today in London’s Idea Generation Gallery. The exhibition, which runs until August 28, coincides with the publication of Duffy (ACC Publishing Group, £45), the first book to compile much of his work…

Regular readers will recall we blogged about Duffy twice last  year, once in January following an excellent BBC4 Documentary on Duffy called The Man Who Shot The Sixties, and then again in September when we flagged up Duffy: The Third Man, an exhibition of Duffy’s work shown at the Lucy Bell gallery in St. Leonards.

This new exhibition looks set to be the very first full-career retrospective of Duffy who famously set fire to much of his negatives and transparencies in his garden in 1979, feeling that he had said all he could say through the medium of photography. It will include iconic, rare and in some cases unseen works that include portraits of Hollywood and rock’n’roll royalty in including Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, Sydney PoitierBrigitte Bardot, John Lennon (below), David Bowie (above) and Debbie Harry (scroll down). The show will document his early career as a photographer at Vogue in the late 50s and then at Frenche Elle where, along with his contemporaries David Bailey and Terence Donovan, he ushered in a new style of documentary fashion photography.

Michael Caine, 1964 copyright Duffy Archive

John Lennon, 1965 copyright Duffy Archive

Debbie Harry, 1977 copyright Duffy Archive

The exhibition will also take in Duffy’s work as a commercial photographer, showing fantastic campiagns for Smirnoff and also Benson & Hedges.

Benson & Hedges, Birdcage, 1977 copyright Duffy Archive

Duffy runs until August 28 at Idea Generation Gallery, 11 Chance Street, London E2 7JB. Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 10am-6pm / Saturday & Sunday, 12-5pm
More info at gallery.ideageneration.co.uk

As well as the £45 version, a limited special edition of the Duffy book, containing a rare print from the famously expensive David Bowie Aladdin Sane cover shoot, will also be available, priced at £250. Visit antiquecollectorsclub.com for more details.

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