Bailey's Democracy

What I enjoy about the work is the artist's strict methodology throughout the series of photographs. His 'self-imposed restrictions were severe," says Desomnd Morris, the introduction writer. The only variation was the subjects, the framing always identical to the last, with no enlargements or reductions. All produced on a large formate 10x8 plate camera.




Some scanned images from the book Bailey's Democracy. Photographs by David Bailey

Bailey's Democracy

An Introduction by Desmond Morris


Despite it's title, this is not a book about politicians. It is much more important than that - it is about the nature of the human species. The democratic process that gives the volume its title is photographic, not political.


Every one of the people portrayed here was treated in an identical way, regardless of who they were. Over a period of three years, individuals visiting David Bailey's studio were asked if they would agree to be photographed naked. None refused, and none was rejected with the result that this fascinating collection is a random sample of humanity as it exists at the start of the 21st century - and it presents us with a unique portrait of our remarkable species. 


Bailey's self-imposed restrictions were severe. Each person was asked to remove their clothing and stand on a mark on the floor of the studio. The removal of make-up and jewellery was also requested, but not insisted upon. A large 10x8 plate camera was positioned about six feet in front of the subject. A single light was placed just above the camera, always in the exactly the same position, and an evenly lit, white screen was set up about twelve feet behind the subject. The framing was always identical and there was no enlargement or reduction, no trimming, retouching or editing of the shots. The photographic paper used was always the same. Crucially, the only variation was in the subjects themselves.


That was what Bailey referred to as his 'imposed democracy'. It forces the viewer of these photographs to confront the human form in the most direct and searingly honest way imaginable. There is no artifice, no computer enhancement, no fancy technical wizardry to make people look more glamourous than they really are, no smoothing of skin surfaces, no soft focussing or subtle shadowing. What you see here is the stark reality of the human conditon. 


The only element of artistic interference that Bailey allowed himself was the selection of the final print. During each ten-minute session, the subject was photographed six times, in varying poses, and Bailey then chose the example that he preferred. Even the poses were not controlled by him. Each person was asked simply to 'be themselves' and to adopt any posture they liked. The result is a compelling document of the human body in contemporary times.


When viewing these portraits it is important to make a distinction between nudity and nakedness. To me, these are naked bodies but they are not nudes. Traditionally the nude has one of two agendas - the aesthetic and the erotic. Nudes have their clothes removed to make them more beautiful or more sexy. The reason for stripping away the concealing layers of clothing is either to reveal the glory of human musculature or to expose the more private parts. To these ends, nude models are usually carefully selected to offer us the idealised human body as we would like to see it, rather than as it really is, in Bailey's book this bias is rigorously avoided. These are not nudes, they are naked people and, as such, they tell us so much more about the species to which we all belong.


David Bailey - Bailey's Democracy

Sean Maloney

Ideally I wanted to travel outside of Manchester, possible up to the peak to photograph Sean. What I wanted was a dense woodland, not bothered by mans nurturing. A location that was busily overwhelming, being able to engulf the sitter. 
The fact I don't have a vehicle to help me travel to this places stopped that idea in its tracks, the plan for it would have to be perfect, being able to find the right day with the right weather conditions.

I just happened to know a great area in the south of Manchester that hosted such landscapes I wanted. A place called Houldsworth, just shy of Reddish, Manchester.

Here are some other images from the film.

William Sharp

The idea of the execution was to make sure both elements of landscape and portraiture was being hit. A difficult feat when you have to take into consideration weather circumstances and the patience of the sitter. 
I was very concerned in how I was going to reach what I wanted without the images to be categorised as 'fashion portraiture'. Ideas to have simple plain drab clothing, black or white ran through my mind in the early development stages, but the chances of that looking cheap and ineffective was too high, and so, the other option was the models to be come almost nude and as far as nude.


And it was with that I begun to find the motive for my exploration, why would I not want them clothed? What statement am I trying to get across if not?
(I think a simple answer is to say I wanted them as plain or as naked as the landscape would be, there would be no secret agenda. They would reveal themselves to their landscape as their landscape would be revealed to them).


William Sharp, my first official model for this exploration was keen on helping me achieve whatever it was I was trying to achieve, and in doing so was happy enough to cycle with me approximately 8miles to our chosen location. A few country fields close to Manchester Airport, and a small village called Styal. 

Will a 6'4 something caucasian ginger male, chosen by my own eye because of tall slim frame. Already knowing that beneath his pattern shirts was a definitive collar bone, defining, shoulder blades, a furry torso, and a revealing spinal cord.


In the end we went down to the location twice. The first time the weather was difficult and I was still working and playing with exposure times, flash, tripod. Here are some of the earlier images that came from this.

Gender and Landscape

So from about February this year I've been refining the ideas of working with Gender and Landscape, in particular the Male Gender. I had ideas of combining the tools of Landscape and Portraiture together to create a portrait of this person that connected with the physical landscape.
I want the images to hold ephemeral feelings, I want them to focus on physical shape, differences in body characteristics, angles, stillness. These are just some of the things running through my mind through every shoot.
Each model carried this idea that they had their own landscape that represented there body at that moment in time. Ephemeral, meaning, something that doesn't last for very (only lasting a day) , gives each model and their landscape the meaning that they at that given time will not last for very long. People and landscapes change with seasons.