In the spring of 1966, a British photographer embarked on a project to photograph the most beautiful women in the country. Birds of Britain, the seminal photographic book by John d. Green celebrating the most beautiful “birds” of the UK, was published in 1967. Featuring models, society girls, singers, actresses and debutantes, Birds of Britain was a celebration of Swinging London’s movers and shakers and went on to become an immediate success selling 60,000 copies, 20 times the original print run. A US tour for John d. Green and a selection of the ‘birds’ followed, with an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and even a single and the book went onto develop a cult following.
Some of the images in this unexpected and exciting collection caused controversy when originally published due to their quirky and outrageous style. They are, as Green says, “a truly British phenomena, the most fabulous ‘birds’who put Swinging London on the map.” This was an explosion of everything Sixties London represented to the rest of the world and Green captured its essence in these sometimes delicate, sometimes bizarre, but always beautiful images.
This month, John d Green’s photographs from this legendary, long out of print book Birds of Britain, are exhibited for the first time in London. The photographer also opened up his untouched Birds of Britain archive, featuring some unseen images that are not included in the original book, for the exhibition at Snap Galleries in St James’s.
Exhibition :
John d. Green, Birds of Britain
1 october – 26 november 2016
Snap Galleries
12 Piccadilly Arcade
London SW1Y 6NH
England
https://www.snapgalleries.com/
Book:
The big book of Birds of Britain
Published by Ormond Yard Press
February 2017
£ 295
