David Bailey was born on 2 January 1938 in North Leyton, East London. He left school at fifteen and was conscripted to the Royal Air Force in 1956. Whilst posted in Singapore he bought his first camera and was inspired to be a photographer after seeing Cartier Bresson's photograph, 'Kashmir'.

Bailey started working with fashion photographer, John French as his assistant in 1959. He left soon after to strike out on his own and published his first portrait of Somerset Maugham for Today magazine in 1960. In 1965 he published David Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups which is now seen as defining an era and shaped the future of photography.

Bailey has exhibited worldwide and has produced some of the most famous photographic portraits of the last five decades. His interests are varied, extending to TV commercials, film, documentaries, painting and sculpture. He has been recognized internationally for his skills as a filmmaker, and won the Lion d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his Greenpeace commercial, 'Meltdown'. Look Again is his first autobiography.