The striking black-and-white photograph of a fresh-faced ingenue, glasses askew, was taken by David Bailey in the late 60s. But it wasn’t the first time he captured this particular luminary. The two young men were members of overlapping social and artistic circles, and Bailey initially photographed this artist in 1965 for his Box of Pin-Ups portfolio, which also included Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Terence Stamp, and Brian Jones, among others. Bailey’s subjects were described as ‘people who in England today seem glamorous to him… some of them happen to be famous.’ So who is it?
The one and only David Hockney, photographed around the time that his masterpiece, ‘A Bigger Splash’, was completed. Hockney was living in Los Angeles at the time — he moved there in 1964, just two years after graduating from the Royal College of Art.
Fortunately for all of us, the paths of Bailey and Hockney continued to converge at points, leaving us with this unforgettable image of an artist at the height of his powers.
