Trends in contemporary portrait and fashion photography - 3

Baileys portraits are characterized by close cropping, strong lighting and often stark, bare backgrounds; which have given them a dramatic and enduring intensity. With most of his models Bailey had a very close rapport that brought a certain level of intimacy to his photographs, which was unique amongst his contemporaries. Some examples of his work can be seen on page six. In these examples you can clearly see Baileys simple yet distinctive style, the two small photographs of Michael Caine and Mick Jagger clearly show that Bailey has lit the subject with either one or two softboxes from the front or 45 degrees and has also lit the background very strongly to allow the model to stand out more clearly from the background. Bailey’s photographs seem to be quite contrasting and he uses quite harsh side lighting on Micheal Caine it makes the character appear to be very strong and threatening which may have been Baileys intention. Bailey remains still as active as ever and has continuing importance as a portrait photographer evident in his contemporary photographs of Naomi Campbell, Amber Valetta, Johnny Depp and Ralph Fiennes. (Continued)