Unpublished Bowie Shots In Duffy Bbc Four Documentary

Duffy lit a fire one day…

I didn’t give this one any advance warning on account of not knowing what Bowie content it might contain…however, in the event there was plenty and what a treat it was.

Following on from his London retrospective, (10.15.2009 NEWS: DUFFY TALKS ABOUT ALADDIN SANE SHOOT ON BBC) photographer Brian Duffy was the subject of last night’s excellent BBC Four documentary: The Man Who Shot the 60s.

The fear was that Duffy may have destroyed his Bowie sessions during a moment of madness when he set a whole bunch of his work ablaze in 1979.

However, visitors to the aforementioned retrospective had the delight of seeing a very vibrant print of the Aladdin Sane cover shot, a promising sign that Duffy’s Bowie sessions were still safe.

I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen the programme yet as it’s worth watching the whole thing. Duffy himself is a joy to listen to and his banter with David Bailey is priceless…particularly their conflicting memories of the infamous bonfire incident.

Aside from the explanation of the apparently purposefully costly production of the Aladdin Sane album sleeve there are lots of other great Bowie moments and unpublished photographs, which I’ve hinted at in the shots from 1972 and 1976 in the montage above.

If you’re in the UK and you didn’t catch it last night, you have many more chances yet to see The Man Who Shot the 60s on TV and even longer to watch it on the BBC’s very handy iPlayer. Go here for further viewing possibilities.

You should also check out the official Duffy site where it is promised many of the previously unpublished Bowie shots will soon be available as prints.