On entering the Aladdin Sane: 50 Years exhibition you are immediately surrounded by photographs of icons from another age that acclimatise you to the work of (Brian) Duffy before you continue to the next space where you are met with images of David Bowie – many of them larger than life that hint at the man himself, writes Michael Holland…
The Bowie images overwhelm and attract all the attention, but this exhibition is not all about Bowie but about the process that Duffy and his team went through to create the iconic Aladdin Sane album cover in 1973, working to a brief from Bowie’s manager, Tony Defreis, to make the cover as expensive as possible so that the record label would market it well to get their money back.
Pierre LaRoche did the makeup with the only prop being Bowie’s body. The magic was made with the camera and the printing process. Through photos and text, we discover how the makeup took up most of the time for the shoot, but once Duffy was happy with the look he quickly run off just 24 images. From the negatives, Duffy chose to use Bowie with his eyes closed, something never before seen in portraiture. He then went for an expensive seven-colour printing technique. From that day on, the image has become legendary and recognised and copied around the world.
But Aladdin Sane: 50 Years ultimately tells Duffy’s story. He was a photographer who had worked with leading fashion magazines for years, and with the top stars and models of the day.
The exhibition allows us to see his front covers and his photographs of the famous. In fact, we learn much more about Duffy than we do about David Bowie.
Nevertheless, Aladdin Sane: 50 Years will very much appeal to Bowie fans, fashion acolytes, photography enthusiasts and anyone with an eye for creative art.
The exhibition is complemented by a new book by Chris Duffy, Aladdin Sane 50: The definitive celebration of Bowie’s most iconic album and music’s most famous photograph – with unseen images, released by Welbeck at £40 hardback.
The back cover has a quote from Andy Warhol: “The idea is not to live forever but to create something that will.”
Duffy and Bowie certainly did that.
Aladdin Sane at 50: The Making of an Icon
Exhibition Space, Level 1, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX until May 28th.
Admission: £5
Booking: southbankcentre.co.uk
