Duffy, of Irish descent and one third of the 60's group of photographers dubbed the Black Trinity (with David Bailey & Terence Donovan) by Norman Parkinson, came to photography after studying women's dress design. This change of heart (he originally went to art school) led to a job as an illustrator for Harper’s Bazaar where one day he came across a contact sheet which was lying around from one of the shoots  - he marvelled at the multiple images and how comparably easy it would be to use a camera rather than the hours of drawing it would take to produce all of these frames.

In the late 1950s he was introduced to the editor of Vogue, Audrey Withers, who commissioned his first photographic job; the brief was a portrait image shot on a Leica camera at the strict request of the famous sitter who had recently suffered a stroke and wanted a camera without noise  - there Duffy's photographic journey began.

Duffy's images came to define the spirit of the 60s, anarchy was in the air which perfectly matched his energy and great aptitude as a photographer. Duffy worked non-stop until 1978 (when he stopped photographing for over twenty years) for all the best publications of the day - Queen, Town, Nova and French Elle photographing celebrities and pioneering a documentary fashion style. He also worked for the greatest advertising agencies of the time who produced stunning and sophisticated adverts (now noted as some of the most iconic of the last six decades) for the biggest brands of the day including Benson & Hedges and Smirnoff.

Duffy’s love of photographing fashion, shooting portraits and solving technical photographic problems made him one of the most revered photographers of his day leaving not only a creative legacy but one of a true photographic maven.

Sitters in the exhibition include Michael Caine, David Hockney, Jean Shrimpton, Grace Coddington, Len Deighton, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harry Secombe.

This is the first time collectors will have the opportunity to acquire rare vintage printings of Duffy’s most famous frames.

For further details, please contact:
Lou Proud at gallery.london@leica-camera.com.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10:00 – 18:00 (admission is free)

All images © Duffy