indielondon.co.uk - events - Bailey and Rankin Down Under, Proud Camden

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.

Described by Rankin, himself, as a celebration of the female form, the exhibition features over 20 unpublished images from the photographer, including the likes of Jodie Kidd and Laura Bailey.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