Bailey's Stardust

Bailey's Stardust is a show I was really looking forward to seeing because I had seen a few of David Bailey's pieces throughout my life. Along comes this beautiful show put together by the man himself including different collections of all of his work, so of course I had to go. Firstly, I have to say the staff at the National Portrait Gallery is always very nice and very friendly, it's always a pleasure to be there and interact with them. Secondly, somehow no matter which day of the week or what time of day, the temporary shows are always really crowded. But I guess that's good for business. Thirdly, you can't really take pictures inside the show. I was sneaky and sent a few snapchats but nothing I could keep. 

The space used for this particular show was a large variety of rooms that followed a pretty obvious sequence. Of course to avoid the crowds as much as possible I went round the opposite way. But there was a room for the Rolling Stones, another with mainly fashion photography, a collection of portraits and the list goes on. Every image I saw made me stop and catch my breath. Some more than others, but that's always the case. 

I left the show feeling I had learned something, not only about his life, but also about photography and how much the work of one individual person can change. I would love to see other photographers' bodies of work in such a large space, showing the transitions in their lives. I was just really taken by all these images and I still think about them every day. 

Here's the link to the show: http://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/bailey/exhibition.php 

(it's on until the 1st of June) 

#Art

#Art is a show my friend organised and contributed to. It was for one night only here in London but it sold out even before the day of the show. #Art was a show to bring together people, ideas and ambition. There were photographers, musicians, designers, painters, and free beer. The space was between Angel and Old Street, with the entrance on the ground floor and the actual show on the basement level. 

The group of people there is what struck me most. Yes, of course there were a lot of friends and family present, but all of these people believed in what their friends were creating in any of these creative fields. It is really important to me to support artists in any shape or form. Without creativity we're just machines repeating the same steps through life until we die. The exhibition was a good eye opener. It was wonderful to see how well people collaborated and the effort each individual put in was very noticeable. 

The microphone was acting up so most of the performances were done without. The biggest struggle was keeping the crowd quiet. After a few drinks people were getting louder and louder. I stayed throughout the whole show, talking to friends, congratulating my friend Matteo's achievements and just enjoying the positive vibes. I was so happy to be there and witness it, even if I wasn't more involved, it was amazing. 

Here's my friend Matteo's Tumblr site: http://matteoscaglione.tumblr.com/