With eyes completely open…
Lots of visual treats for the discerning Bowie fan in the upcoming Duffy book published this month and also at the attendant exhibition in London next month.
Here’s the publisher’s blurb regarding the book…
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Duffy, an incredible never-before-seen visual record to the photographic genius that was Brian Duffy, featuring Duffy?s own words and an introduction by Philippe Garner is available from all good bookstores and Amazon from mid-June, published by the ACC Publishing Group (RRP £45.00).
*** A limited edition containing a rare print from the David Bowie Aladdin Sane cover shoot is priced at £250.00 ***
ISBN: 9781851496570
Publisher:
Territory: World excluding Belgium and The Netherlands
Size: 300 mm x 240 mm
Pages: 208
Illustrations: 48 colour, 160 b&w
—————————————————————————————————————————–
We can exclusively reveal that the print accompanying the limited edition is of the image on the left in the montage above, and that’s the book cover on the right. (The one on Amazon is incorrect)
David Bowie is well represented in the book with five full pages of mono Scary Monsters outtakes, and two full-page colour plates from The Lodger and Aladdin Sane cover sessions…by far and away the most featured artist in the book.
One of the great things that has come to light with the recent publication of many of Duffy’s Bowie shots is the detail that had gone previously unnoticed.
For example…and don’t pretend you already noticed it…if you look closely at the Aladdin Sane flash on the left in the montage above, it’s not quite right on the left hand side just under the eye. This is true of all the outtakes from the session.
It only lines up properly for the final cover artwork, above right, where it has been widened and lined up correctly. Whether this detail was adjusted during the session (which I doubt) or afterwards by Philip Castle (most likely) I don’t know for sure.
Having said that, it’s not likely that just the one good frame would have been taken right at the end of the session with the flash correctly aligned, so my money is on post-session Castle trickery for sure…and what a good job he did too!
For me, the other intriguing detail is in the Lodger cover outtake in the book, (final cover and outtake pictured above), particularly in David’s face and the shirt he is wearing.
David’s decision to go with a Polaroid from the session for the final cover artwork meant that most of the detail was blown out, giving the cover what was an intentionally poorly-reproduced, rougher and more urgent feel with the immediacy of a snap or indeed a Polaroid.
I guess it was meant to look voyeuristic to some degree and the technical accuracy of the high quality images was perhaps considered too staged. It was also more in keeping with the quality of the various images printed within the gatefold sleeve.
Despite the valid reasons there may have been to go with the Polaroid, I have to say as a portrait of David Bowie I prefer the version printed in the Duffy book. There’s actually a pattern on David’s shirt and the detail in the unflatteringly twisted facial features is beautifully surreal.
It was a brave sleeve to produce, even more so when one considers the beautiful portraits that had adorned previous Bowie sleeves. It was also a sleeve whose orientation confused people…and how Bowie is that?
—————————————————————————————————————————–
Here’s the blurb regarding aforementioned exhibition at the
—————————————————————————————————————————–
We’re proud to present the first ever full retrospective of Brian Duffy – a man who changed the face of British photography.
The first ever full-career retrospective of the legendary British photographer opens to the public on July 8th 2011, coinciding with the publication of Duffy ? the first and only book of the photographer’s work.
Duffy infamously quit photography in 1979 when, at the height of his career, he took the majority of his photographic work into the back garden and set it on fire. Featuring more than 160 images painstakingly rediscovered by Duffy?s son after years of searching through archives and publications around the world, this exhibition has truly risen from the ashes.
Exhibition Details:
Dates: 8th July ? 28th August 2011
Address:
11 Chance Street
London E2 7JB
Tube: Liverpool Street or Old Street
Price: Free
Opening Hours:
Monday to Friday: 12pm – 6pm
Saturday & Sunday: 12pm ? 5pm
First Thursdays: Open to 8pm
—————————————————————————————————————————–
If you can get along to the exhibition it really is worth making the effort, there will be some pretty impressive and large scale Bowie prints from what I’ve been told. Both editions of the book will also be available to purchase from the gallery.
Finally, I’ll tantalise you with the information that there is another picture of interest to the Bowie fan in the book. It’s a shot from 1974 of a headless William Burroughs and a headless David Bowie, wherein Burroughs has a photographic portrait of himself (taken by Duffy in 1960), tucked under his arm.
I’m afraid the mental images that description must have conjured for those of you that haven’t seen the photograph, can only lead to a feeling of disappointed perceptual expectation when you finally do view it.