Behind the Creative Direction of Photographer and David Bowie

As you’ve most likely heard the news, the world has lost one of the most influential musicians of this generation, David Bowie, at the age of 69. His transcendence and originality is something all artists can admire. Chris Duffy, the son of photographer Brian Duffy, takes you behind the scenes of the creative direction for some of Bowie and his father's collaborations.

Brian Duffy, the photographer known as “The Man Who Shot the 60s,” collaborated with Bowie for five collaborations throughout his career. An interesting backstory with Brian is that he quit photography in 1979 by burning his equipment and negatives after becoming a renowned and rather famous photographer during his time. It took the effort from his son, Chris, to dig and share his father’s archives. In this video, Chris shares how the handful of shoots with Bowie came about and the creative direction behind them.

The first project they collaborated on was the “Ziggy Stardust” project, which was some of Bowie’s early work. These photos represent more of the theatrical, glamour rock that Bowie had become well known for (which was very forward thinking at that time).

The next collection was the collaboration for the “Aladdin Sane” project. Chris goes into what inspired Bowie to end up with a bold look with a flash going across his face. Inspiration was drawn from both Elvis and surprisingly a logo off of a rice cooker.

The third shoot was during one of Bowie’s acting projects, “The Man Who Fell To Earth.” They shot in White Sands, New Mexico. Brian used an old Russian camera. This camera was a super-wide camera, double the width of a 35mm. This camera’s shutter would go across 180-degrees once pressed. One interesting technique Brian performed while shooting was a multiple exposure technique. Contrary to photography as we know it today, this was quite daring at that time and unconventional.

In 1979, Brian and Bowie collaborated with a concept that was rather out there and different. Bowie was positioned on his back while being photographed by Brian from above. An interesting take here is that the makeup artists had to physically conform his face in these photographs since Photoshop obviously did not exist.

Their final collaboration had a very high-fashion theme titled “Scary Monsters.” They collaborated with high-end makeup artist, Richard Sharah.

David Bowie made an enormous impact in music history and across multiple generations. He was an extraordinary artist, even up to his final days.

[via Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam]