Hasta La Ideas

Florence, Mercedes. 1962

A new exhibition of the late great photographer Brian Duffy’s work, entitled Duffy The Third Man, is running at the Lucy Bell gallery in St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex. It’s actually only the second exhibition of Duffy’s work…

Regular readers may remember that we posted about the Duffy documentary entitled The Man Who Shot The Sixties back in January after it was shown on BBC4. The documentary was an insightful look at the work and the mind of Brian Duffy – who, since the documentary was shot last year, sadly died in May from Pulmonary Fibrosis, a degenerative lung disease.

Michael Caine, 1964

“Although Duffy had always shied away from publicity, it was important to me that his legacy was restored before his passing,” explain’s Duffy’s son, Chris Duffy in the foreword of the exhibition catalogue for Duffy The Third Man – which opens tomorrow. Chris, after years of trying to persuade his father that it would be a good idea, began collating and databasing all of his father’s negatives, transparencies and prints back in 2007. “That legacy can now only grow,” he continues, “and I am delighted to be working withThe Lucy Bell Gallery on Duffy’s second [ever] exhibition. I am sure he would be highly amused that the exhibition is titled ‘The Third Man’.”

Jean Shrimpton, early 1960s

“I am a big fan of Duffy’s work,” says curator and gallerist Lucy Bell of the show, “and I am also very interested in work that has not much been in the public fore for one reason or another. For example the Ken Russell exhibition which was here in March/April, showed Ken Russell to be a very talented photographer before he became a filmmaker, a fact that had scarcely been recorded.”

“Both Duffy and Russell, are cutting-edge thinkers and groundbreaking talent,” Bell continues. “Duffy is incredibly important to the history of photography, and without his son Chris we would have lost this record. Duffy brought fashion photography onto a whole new level and, with his rebellious and creative spirit, forged a cultural revolution, away from the stultifying formality of the 50’s.”

Beach Shadow, 1964

Image from the 1973 Pirelli calendar

Benson & Hedges, 1978

David Bowie, Aladdin Sane, 1973

Duffy The Third Man runs from September 28 to November 19 at The Lucy Bell Gallery, 46 Norman Road, St Leonards-On-Sea, Sussex, TN38 0EJ. Full details at lucy-bell.com