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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Harriet Sherwood Arts and culture correspondent

Southbank Centre celebrates 50 years of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane album

David Bowie Aladdin Sane Southbank Centre Brian Duffy Chris Duffy London the Southbank Centre United States
The ‘Mona Lisa of pop’, Brian Duffy’s famous shot of Bowie, forms the centrepiece of the exhibition.
The ‘Mona Lisa of pop’, Brian Duffy’s famous shot of Bowie, forms the centrepiece of the exhibition. Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

The famous flash of lightning across David Bowie’s closed eyelid was a tiny emblem gracing the rock star’s cheekbone until the celebrated photographer Brian Duffy stepped in.

“He told the makeup artist ‘No, no, not like that’,” said the photographer’s son, Chris. So Duffy grabbed some lipstick to draw an outline of a much bigger flash … and Aladdin Sane was born.

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