Sunday, April 29, 2012

la femmes de david bailey - rosemary bramble/jean shrimpton

rosemary bramble, bailey's fist wife, 1960

the only information i could find on rosemary bramble is that they were married in 1960 & she was a typist. bailey would meet jean shrimpton about 9 months later & that was that.  not sure when they were divorced. really nothing. if you want to find alot of images of david bailey & jean shrimpton or catherine deneuve just google rosemary bramble + david bailey!  



david bailey & jean shrimpton on the set of a photoshoot, photographed by terry o’neill, 1963.


david bailey & jean shrimpton on the set of a photoshoot, photographed by terry o’neill, 1963.


bailey & shrimpton, 1963




bailey & shrimpton, 1971




bailey's iconic vogue shoot with jean shrimpton in new york city, 1962






jean shrimpton by david bailey



david bailey was 22 & married when he met the 17 year old model, jean shrimpton.  shrimpton was modeling for a cereal ad for photographer brian duffy, with whom bailey shared a studio. when bailey asked duffy "who is that girl?" duffy's response was, "she is too posh for you." he booked her for a bridal shoot & they became lovers.

bailey was asked to fly to new york to shoot with fashion editor, lady clare rendlesham & demanded he be allowed to take along his girlfriend. this iconic vogue shoot was groundbreaking & kickstarted the swinging 60s. vogue changed irrevocably after that shoot. before that issue, it's all stiff, elegant models standing with one leg in front of the other. the shrimpton & bailey pictures with their gritty realness ushered in a whole new wave.

bailey said of jean, "she was magic. in a way she was the cheapest model in the world - you only needed to shoot half a roll of film & then you had it." and she has said of him, "he was lovely. everybody loved him - birds, men, old girls, homosexuals. everyone."

they set up home together in a scruffy london basement along with 24 finches & lovebirds & 2 dogs. but in 1964, bailey's cheating ways drove jean into the arms of actor terence stamp.  "losing jean....it was like losing my camera. i did make jean into the woman i wanted her to be and she was kind of perfect.  if you have a big relationship with a model, you don't have to talk. they get what you are after, if they have an ounce of intellgence. most models now can't even work a dress." bailey has said of shrimpton. she said of him, "my meeting with bailey was a fateful one, for i owe everything that i have since become as model & as a woman to him. he taught me that i must have a mind as well as a body."


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