Twiggy, David Bowie by Justin de Villeneuve: Constructing Identity in 1960s Fashion Photography

Presented by The Selects Gallery, this exhibition explores how Justin de Villeneuve shaped some of the most enduring images of the twentieth century. Featuring works of Twiggy, David Bowie, Pattie Boyd, and Marsha Hunt, the exhibition focuses on a defining moment when photography moved beyond documentation to become a deliberate act of construction.

This is not an exhibition about a decade, it is an exhibition about how images are built: how identity is authored, refined, and fixed into visual form. Anchored in 1960s fashion photography, these works reveal the precision behind what later became iconic.

Before the codification of creative direction in fashion, Justin de Villeneuve operated with a level of control that feels strikingly contemporary. His collaboration with Twiggy was not observational. It was architectural.
He did not simply photograph her. He defined her image: naming, styling, framing, and refining how she would be seen. The resulting photographs are not spontaneous portraits; they are structured compositions where every element serves a point of view.
What emerges is a new form of authorship in photography: one where the subject and the image are inseparable from the vision behind them. This is what makes these works foundational, and collectible.

The 1960s mark a critical shift in the history of photography. Building on earlier innovations by figures such as Norman Parkinson, the photograph became more than a vehicle for fashion. It became the destination.
In this context, garments no longer lead the image. They support it. The composition, the attitude, and the framing take precedence.
Justin de Villeneuve's work exemplifies this transition. His images are graphic, deliberate, and controlled. They operate as visual statements, constructed to endure beyond their original context.

The exhibition extends this logic of construction to the image of David Bowie. Like Twiggy, Bowie understood that identity could be built, adjusted, and presented with intention. The photographs shown here are not simply portraits of a musician. They are composed representations of a persona, carefully articulated through pose, styling, and gaze. What connects these works is a shared discipline: the understanding that an image is never accidental. It is made.

The exhibition does not stop at the two most recognized names. The Pattie Boyd sittings, originally made for Italian Vogue, bring a quieter intensity to the body of work. A face already layered with cultural association, photographed with full awareness of that weight. The 1968 Marsha Hunt portraits, made at the time of her appearance in Hair, are among the most graphic works in the archive: frontal, unmediated, and entirely commanding at scale. Together, they confirm the range of de Villeneuve's eye and the consistency of his approach across very different subjects.

Available through The Selects Gallery, the exhibition offers collectors a rare opportunity to acquire photographs that define how identity, fashion, and image-making continue to intersect today. They are images with a defined point of view, constructed with intention and executed with precision. Scaled and framed, they command attention, structure a space, and create a lasting visual anchor. At The Selects Gallery, each photograph is offered as a limited-edition print produced to museum-quality standards. Their rarity and historical significance make them among the most considered acquisitions in 1960s photography today.