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Left: Archive Image from a shoot for French Elle, in 1963 Opposite: John Lennon with UFO Detector, 1965. All images Photo Duffy © Duffy Archive
unusual. They produced images that firmly influenced trends seen on the streets, in both fabric and fearlessness. “As late as the 1950s, for instance, it was slightly déclassé to come into the office not wearing gloves and a small hat. Editions of British Vogue from 1958 contained very little difference from pre-War Vogue,” posits photographic historian Robin Muir, of the printed style-zeitgeist. “The Trinity, who all started around the same time, bought a sense of reality to the magazine. From 1961, the pages are enlivened… it really does look like a new era.” British model de jour Jill Kennington concurs; “Things changed from 64
staid, formalised fashion into cool fashion for young people.” Duffy represented a new kind of cool himself; no nonsense, and certainly more ‘hellraiser’ than ‘sweetie pie’, with a glint of mischief in his eye. In the BBC documentary The Man Who Shot The Sixties, former fashion editor Molly Parkin playfully described him as, “a bit of a b*****d, really, but one that you’d enjoy having at the dinner table. Duffy was one who would inspire the miner’s strike, let’s put it that way. There was something defiant about him; belligerent and against authority.” Chris opts to describe him, more gently, as “a maverick” who “could be a difficult person”.
Either way, Duffy, who passed away in 2010, was an abrasive force – especially when pitted against a post-war society taught to mind its p’s and q’s. He tested the patience of his high-profile employers, yet his down-to-earth mindset meant he’d be the last to tout his talent as ‘fine art’. “He didn’t go out to commissioned shoots on a daily basis with his art easel and his beret and say ‘I’m going to create art,’” says Chris, with a chuckle. “He was a jobbing photographer; a tradesman who simply produced work, and moved onto the next shoot. It is only when we look in retrospect at things that they fall into the ‘art’ category.” Still, Chris believes he “would have been incredible whatever business he had gone into, because his mind was so eclectic, and he was so well-read – fascinated with history, culture and art – photography was in the right place at the right time for his enquiring mind”. The cutting edge images on-show at London’s Proud Central this month (but ever available at duffyphotographer. com), capture the essence of a cultural epoch that resonates. “The 1960s are the embryo of modern pop culture and its influences are there to this day – a cultural explosion that endures,” says Chris. “The decade is such an important force; people hark back to it all the time in music, photography, design and fashion. There’s still a huge fascination with the time.” Considered the photographer’s photographer, there’s no better lens through which to view the happenings of the Sixties than that of Duffy. Chris recounts a quote from pop artist Derek Boshier, who worked on Five Sessions with Bowie and agreed to join forces because, “Duffy didn’t take the photograph. He invented the moment.” This was his generation. Sixties Style: Shot by Duffy, shows until 18 March 2018 at Proud Galleries. proud.co.uk