Price range: £125.00 through £295.00
"It was a kooky kind of shoot really, what with three people shooting David and then the record cover ends up as a painting, how mad is that? Well, when you worked with Duffy you never knew what would happen!" - Chris Duffy
Taken by Chris Duffy during the last of the Five Sessions with David Bowie in 1980. At this point, Duffy was retired from commercial photography and was using his son - Chris Duffy's studio. After the shoot was finished and the makeup was smeared, Duffy suggested Chris take some press shots to make use of the remaining session time.
This rarely seen shot is a perfect example of how Chris was influenced by "The Black Trinity" of photographers, which included his Father, but retained his own unique style for a different take on the Scary Monsters scene. One of the images was published in 'The Face' in November 1980 for an interview on Bowie titled: "Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: The Cult With No Name." The image had the caption - Scary Monsters arrives in a climate that is difficult on Bowie and his chosen children.
By 1980 Duffy was winding down his photographic career. His studio was no longer filled with cameras, lights and famous faces of the era. It was replaced with woodworking tools for his new venture - furniture restoration. Without a studio space or an assistant, Duffy turned to his son Chris for a venue to shoot David Bowie, the only person who could persuade him to get back behind the lens. Much like the Lodger shot little over a year before, Bowie had employed Duffy as a photographer in collaboration with artist Edward Bell who he had previously introduced to David. After the shoot, Duffy took his chosen image to Edward Bell to add his contribution.
Fully expecting Bell to paint directly on to his print; in the end, Duffy's image was almost completely obscured by Bell's painting. Although David loved the cover, Duffy was deeply hurt that his photograph had been despoiled by Bell.
Our Standard Archival Quality Pigment Ink Prints come in two sizes: Standard and Gallery. All of our prints are ready to frame and supplied with a choice of black or white acid-free mount.
A Standard Square print has an image size of approximately 7.5″ x 7.5″ (19.05cm x 19.05cm) in a 12.4″ x 12.4″ (31.5cm x 31.5cm) mount. Our Standard size open-edition prints are the same size as a 12.4" vinyl album sleeve for convenient framing.
A Gallery Square print has an image size of approximately 12“ x 12" (31 cm x 31 cm) in a 19.75 “ x 19.75" (50 cm x 50 cm) mount. Our Gallery size open edition prints drop straight into 50cm x 50cm frames, which are available from many retailers.
High-quality black frames for Gallery prints can be made in-house for mainland UK orders. Please contact us if you would like a framed print, and a quote will be provided.
A mount is a paper-based border between the frame and the image. It adds an extra decorative element and also prevents the print from touching the glass or perspex of the frame. We supply two sizes of mount, in either square or landscape/portrait aperture, in black or white.
As with all our prints, each open edition is handmade, printed, assembled and packed at the Duffy Archive. Each print is embossed with the Duffy Archive stamp, and the reverse of each mount has a sticker detailing a brief history of the session and ink stamped with a logo from Duffy's camera cases.
The fascinating story behind this timeless session is fully documented in the Duffy Bowie Five Sessions Book told by those who were there.
Limited and Signed editions are available, to discuss options please Contact Us.
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