David Bailey: Eye

As the title of David Bailey's earlier monograph Bailey's Democracy suggests, the legendary British photographer likes to bring the same quality of attention to each of his subjects, irrespective of their fame or reputation: "I treat the boy down at the post office like the president of Russia, and the president of Russia like the boy down at the post office." David Bailey's Eye presents a choice selection of Bailey's photographs -mostly in black-and-white, some in color -spanning the years between 1962 and 2008, the breadth of Bailey's career. His egalitarian stance, often indicated by a conspicuous absence of props and a minimal approach to lighting, enables the photographer to tease from his subjects traits which more formal portraits would lack: the warm benevolence of I. M. Pei for example, the exuberance of John Galliano or the brooding look of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Bailey's eye surveys the gamut of humankind, from celebrities to people far from celebrity orbits, examining each of his subjects for the moment when the person steps forward and becomes a great portrait. Among Bailey's better-known subjects in Eye are Andy Warhol, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Yves Saint Laurent, John Huston and Ellsworth Kelly. With cover art (a painted eye) by Damien Hirst, this volume reveals unexpected facets of many of the creative minds who have defined the culture in which we live.