REMEMBERING RICHARD BAILEY
Photographer Richard Bailey worked with Vogue for more than three decades, helping to establish the international careers of Australian models such as Sarah O’Hare, Kristy Hinze and Nicole Trunfio.
Photographer Richard Bailey worked with Vogue for more than three decades, helping to establish the international careers of Australian models such as Sarah O’Hare, Kristy Hinze and Nicole Trunfio. Gentle and easygoing with a wonderful sense of humour, his death in 2010 at the age of 52 was keenly felt. His wife Gillian, son Jasper and former agent Jo Sinclair share their memories of his time at Vogue.
GILLIAN BAILEY: “Being given a break by Vogue in 1979 when he was a young kid of 21 really launched Richard. Vogue is the reason he became so successful. The magazine believed in him, he loved it, and he was just so grateful. There was chemistry between him and the magazine and the editors he worked with. They trusted him and allowed him the freedom to do what he wanted.”
JO SINCLAIR: “What really struck me about Richard was his amazing casting eye and confidence championing new talent. Agents would send us their models and Richard had the confidence to pick the girl and that girl always ended up being an extraordinary talent. There was a pattern at the time that if Richard had shot a model then all the photographers followed suit. They all wanted to know who Richard was shooting.”
GB: “He was really keen to shoot Australian girls, that’s why he did a book with [model agency] Chic because he constantly heard: ‘There are no girls in Australia.’”
JS: “He was really proud of what we had to offer here in Australia, so he took that as a challenge and shot a book with [hairstylist] Nicolas Jurnjack and [make-up artists] Kellie Stratton and Dotti, where all the girls were just in a pair of jeans. He absolutely loved location trips and shooting stories with a group of people; the team around him was so important in creating something special. The story ‘Surf report’ (January 2002) that he shot on the Northern Beaches was quite poignant for him, as it brought together a whole clan of people that he knew from living on the Beaches.” →
JASPER BAILEY: “I was on set for ‘Surf report’ when I was five years old. I remember going there, and I used to surf there with Dad.”
GB: “Richard was living up in Whale Beach when he left school in Year 11 – he hated school. He met Robbie Newman, a photographer from the Beaches who became a close friend and a mentor for him. He got involved in the surf community at Whale Beach and did some art directing and photography for Tracks magazine, which was also based up there. He went to Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney. Tracks wanted him to shoot surf photos but he realised he didn’t only want to be in the water shooting surfers and as he matured as a photographer he loved shooting in the studio more and more. After more life experience, including 10 years in New York, and once we had a family, [son] Jasper and [daughter] Billie, he was content and settled and really wanted to shoot something different rather than just people running around on the beach.”
JS: ”Richard and Nicolas [Jurnjack] were passionate about what they were doing, they would labour on things for hours to get things perfect, and it was a really good time for Vogue. While Richard’s natural affinity was for shooting outdoors, he also matured into an exceptional studio photographer. Vogue knew they could guarantee a cover with Richard. I think he was so good at location shoots, because it was so natural to him; he really understood light.”
JB: “My favourite stories are hard to choose, but I love the ‘Fame’ shoot [May 2003], ‘Scarface’ [August 2000] and ‘Out of nowhere’ [July 2004] shot in Broken Hill – the light and the whole story.”
JS: “I remember that Broken Hill shoot. We had to drive Nicolas in as he wouldn’t get on the small plane! I also remember Richard shooting Kristy Hinze; he loved shooting her, and he loved shooting Sarah O’Hare [now Murdoch]. He did a great story with Jessica Hart as well.”
GB: “Jasper, I remember you would lean on him when he was shooting, you would stand on his camera bag and he wouldn’t mind. I’ve still got his camera cases that you kids decorated with Textas.”
GB: “Richard’s first love was always photography. He was coordinating a shoot the day he died. Photography was in his blood. Even when he was really sick, he was dreaming about taking another picture as he slipped away.” ■