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Preview: Jack Foley
“It was all Rankin’s suggestion…he’d
seen a pussy photograph on the wall and we thought ‘oh shit
lets do a pussy show together!’”
David Bailey
TWO of the most highly-regarded and provocative photographers
in the UK have come together to address the subject of female
sexuality head-on, for a new exhibition entitled Bailey &
Rankin Down Under at Proud Camden Galleries, until mid June.
Having revolutionized fashion photography in the Sixties, David
Bailey’s work has continued to entertain and challenge critics
and photography lovers alike.
This latest offering promises not to disappoint, as the new exhibition
features explicit images of female genitalia which are both shocking
and fascinating.
Taken 12 years ago, the collection of photographs came about
when he decided he wanted to photograph the female anatomy close
up, in its raw and natural state, using student nurses and sex
workers.
The shots have remained unseen until now.
Placed alongside Bailey’s graphic photographs are some of
Rankin’s latest offerings, entitled ‘Girls on Top’,
which has been described as his most striking exhibition since
Breeding and Sofasosexy in 2002.
This time, however, there can be no doubts about the gender of
the models included, as Rankin places the viewer firmly in the
frame of his coital fantasy.
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Described by Rankin, himself, as a celebration of the female
form, the exhibition features over 20 unpublished images from
the photographer, including the likes of Jodie Kidd and Laura
Bailey.
All of the models depicted have been captured as though they
are engaged in sexual activity with Rankin and his camera.
As such, the women are uninhibited and enjoying their own sensuality,
from a position of dominance and control.
The images from the controversial Proud Galleries show have also
been brought together for a unique and extremely limited edition
book, to scandalise the coffee tables of photographic connoisseurs
and collector’s everywhere.
According to Rankin: "This collaboration is unique and means
a lot to me. An exhibition comes and goes, but a book is a permanent
record, a microcosm of the larger event that will always be around."
Together yet separate, the two photographer’s collections
begin at different ends of the book, a design feature that emphasises
the difference between their work, while preserving the similarity
of their underlying motivation – to celebrate what makes
a woman a woman, up close and personal.
Each signed edition comes with two Iris prints, one image from
each photographer, for the bold to frame and hang or just keep
safe in their censoring Perspex home.
Proud Camden Moss, 10 Greenland Street, Camden, NW1 0ND
Open: 10am – 7pm, Monday – Thursday; 11am – 6pm,
Friday – Sunday
Admission: Full price £3; Concs £2
Tube: Camden Town
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