Here’s an opportunity to acquire an important early David Bowie photograph – the op-art-inspired cover image for his 1969 LP by photographer Vernon Dewhurst.
David Bowie’s second album, released in 1969 was originally titled David Bowie, It subsequently became known as Space Oddity, in deference to its best-known track.
Vernon Dewhurst remembers photographing the cover: “I met David Bowie in 1967 or 68 when I lived in a shared house in Clareville Grove, South Kensington. David had the room on the top floor with Hermione, his girlfriend. I would often pop up for a smoke and glass of wine and to hear his latest songs and it was there I first heard ‘Space Oddity’. David invited me to his Arts Lab in Beckenham, and I photographed him playing there. When he saw the photographs, he asked me to meet with Calvin Mark Lee at Mercury Records to talk about the cover to his second LP.”
“They both had this idea of David’s head appearing out of a Vasarely-inspired op art background, but weren’t sure if it could be done. I told them it could. David came to my studio in St.Michael Street, Paddington, and here we photographed the head shot—about three rolls of Ektachrome on a Hassleblad did it. David was a natural model, confident, relaxed, and fun to work with. I finally managed to create the finished montage after a few abortive attempts. It would have been so much easier now with Photoshop!”
Just 30 examples (across all size options) of Vernon’s signed limited edition photograph are available to own and hang on your wall. Two sizes are offered, but please ask about a custom size if you have a specific space to fill.
