Time After Time: David Bailey Takes Us Back to the Streets of London

David Bailey’s photography DNA is deep rooted in the streets of London. While he is well-known for his portraiture and fashion photography over a 60-year period, many aren’t familiar with his lens for the pavements well walked. The ‘Time After Time’ show at Leica Gallery London is born of this part of Bailey, images that portray London at the heart of his and the rawness of his photographic beginnings. 

The city started as Bailey’s canvas, holding subjects provoking his curiosity since he was a child. Even at a height in his career, becoming a regular within Vogue’s walls, he continued to photograph the streets using his camera to treat ordinary, rough urban situations and everyday people with deep artistic respect. 

The images displayed at Leica Gallery London display London through Bailey’s eyes, before he became one of the most known cultural figures of our time. After learning his trade in both John French’s Studio and John Cole’s Studio Five, his revolutionary images of models out of the comfort of rigid studio settings and into urban streets woke up high-end fashion publications. He replaced the static mannequin look of the 1950s with raw, youthful energy and a spontaneous style.

While his roots are the starting point for the exhibition, the show is also hinged around other personal connections. Throughout the gallery, we see the very beginnings of what we now view as legendary partnerships – for example Jean Shrimpton, shot in 1964 on Tower Bridge, styled casually in Bailey’s army jacket would go on to become one of the most successful models of her era. Moving through these images allows for a glimpse into the formation of Bailey’s fruitful career – a photographer whose expertise is never wasted. 

Willingly with Bailey, we’re taken through a different time in London, viewing a city that would become a vibrant place to be during the 1960s, and the models whose faces would stand the test of time and the acknowledgement that there was still hardship at every turn.

The exhibition is composed of vintage and later prints. All works in the exhibition are for sale.

The exhibition will take place at Leica Gallery London Mayfair, 14 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LW from the 11th of November 2026 to the 14th of January 2027.