there’s an exhibition opening in London this month featuring a selection of photographs of David Bowie by British photographer Tony McGee, some of which have been been seen or exhibited before. i really love how noticeable Bowie’s distinctive eyes are in these pictures, he had Anisocoria – his pupils were different sizes, which can create the illusion of having different coloured eyes. i’m also LOVING that leopard print shirt. but everything about Bowie was cool, wasn’t it?
McGee first met Bowie at a private cocktail party. The two immediately bonded, building the beginning of a friendship that would span for more than 30 years. Their first collaboration was to shoot all of the publicity for the ‘Let’s Dance’ Tour, 1983, and their photographic relationship continued well into the 90s. One of the portraits of David Bowie by McGee is in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery. McGee also photographed one of David’s most famous covers for Face Magazine, which was regarded by GQ as one of the most influential magazine covers of the 1980s.
David Bowie Unseen is showing at Imitate Modern, London from 18-27 May, if you want to check it out.
Love Bowie! And I’m fascinated by how McGee quotes another Bowie photographer, Masayoshi Sukita, who took the Heroes cover.