Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-12-14)

28 14 December 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

thetechnicalsideoflenseshe
wasverymuchupon.But,
althoughhewasaneminent
technician,thatkindoftechnical
stuffis interestingtoa degreebut
if you’reonlylookingsolelyatthat
you’remissingthepointbecause,
ultimately,it’saboutthepicture.’
Duffyviewedphotographic
equipmentaspartofa toolkitthat
wouldhelphimtoresolvea brief,
andachievea greatpicture,butfor
hispersonalpictureshewasquite
happysimplyshooting with an
Oly mpusTr ip.

Aflashofgenius
Theinventiveandcreativemind
ofDuffyis arguablybestillustrated
byhisapproachtoandintervention
duringtheAladdinSanealbum
covershootwithDavidBowiein
1973.Bowie’smanager,Tony
Defries,hadreasonedthattomake
therecordcompanyRCApaymore
attentiontoBowieasanartist,it
would help to run up a huge bill

forshootingtheLP’scover,thus

makingit a recordthatwould

requiresignificantpromotionto

recouptheinitialspend.

Duffywasmorethanhappyto

obligeandexplains,‘First,wehad

dyetransfers,whichis a genius

methodofspendingthemost

amountofmoneyinreproducinga

colourtransparencyontoa pieceof

paper.Secondly,gettheplatesmade

in Switzerland, the most expensive

placeintheworld,andthirdly,

employmetodesignandcreateit.

Evenbetterandmorewasteful.’

However,hewasmodestabout

theoutcomeoftheAladdinSane

job,‘Itwasverycompetent,but

I wouldn’ttakeit muchbeyond

that,’yethehadanotherkeyrolein

it.Theshoot’smake-upartist,

PierreLaRoche,startedoffdrawing

a smalllightningbolton

Bowie’s face before Duffy

‘Hewasaneminenttechnician,butif youonlylookatthat,you’re

missing the point because ultimately it’s about the picture’

Top:Smirnoff

Vodka

advertisement,

U-boat, 1978

Above:FrenchElle,

Morocco, 1962

Left:Duffyandhis

son Chris, 1987