David Bailey on why modern celebrities leave him cold I don't think this rather blasé attitude is the result of complacency and success. In a new BBC4 drama about his Sixties love affair with the Shrimp, the actor Aneurin Barnard plays the 24-year-old photographer as a cocky yet talented upstart who is confident enough to ignore the direction of Vogue's then editor, Lady Clare Rendlesham, thus making her cry. Was it an accurate portrayal? "The guy's so good it was kind of spooky," says Bailey of Barnard, a Welsh actor who got his East End tones down to a tee. If anything he's sort of... Bailey falls silent for a moment. He's kinder than me in a way. Bailey's "I couldn't give a stuff whether you use me or not" attitude must be irresistible to fashion mavens, but confusing to the celebrities who come through his studio. He barely remembers any of their names, which could be age, though I reckon it is more likely to be a carefully cultivated thing that allows him to retain some cool. He recently cancelled a shoot with Lady Gaga because "there were too many rumours about her storming out and being silly. And I can't be bothered. If she can sing, why wear funny clothes? Ella Fitzgerald never wore funny clothes. He's done a lot of footballers but "you're wasting your time" asking which ones. John Terry? He sounds like a sweet. 'Would you like a John Terry, they're delicious and chocolate-coated?"" Bailey giggles infectiously. Nah, the only one who stands out is Voom Voom. Thierry Henry? Yeah, I did him for Vanity Fair or something and I liked him because he had a bit of quelque chose. Naturally, he doesn't bother with anything as pretentious as putting on a French accent. Anyway, he has just shot "some model. Who was she, Danielle? Edie Campbell. Who? Oh yeah, Edie Campbell. She's all right. She's the daughter of a friend of mine. Not even royalty gets special treatment. He once said it was a "myth" that the late Diana, Princess of Wales was a great beauty, and stands by that now (though he does concede that the Duchess of Cambridge is "very beautiful"). They used to say the Duke... what's his name? You know, the one after the Queen? Not the Duke of Edinburgh, no, his son... Prince Charles? Yeah! They used to say he was dashing. Well he wasn't! What did he think of Prince Harry, whom he recently shot for GQ? Was it Harry? I get their names mixed up. He's all right. Nice guy. He's more dashing than his old man isn't he? Bailey thinks that Harry is no different from a normal bloke walking down the street. And that's paying him a compliment. Because he's not a retard. He's not inbred. He laughs away, unbothered by whom he offends. When he says things like this I have to wonder how he manages to get the best out of his subjects. He is good company and full of anecdotes - Bob Geldof, for example, is known as "Bob the knob" - but at the same time he is such a stubborn force of nature that I can imagine he can be quite unnerving. I guess part of his talent is that he observes carefully, almost without you realising. "You're not married," he states suddenly, in the middle of a conversation about some of the books he has done. And you're double jointed, aren't you? I'm watching the way you move your arms. Later he tells me he talks to all of his subjects for an hour or so before he shoots them, "to try to find the story, because everyone has a story and I like that." The photos take 15 minutes at most. Otherwise people get bored. It's a bit like sex. Go on any longer and most women want to get up and do some cooking or cleaning. He cackles wildly. Only joking! He doesn't like it when an editor wants him to make a person look a certain way. If they say to me, 'we want him to look arrogant... I won't manipulate someone. If they're a murderer and they're smiling, that's what you'll get in the picture. The Krays, whom he photographed in 1965, sneer at us from the wall. They are not smiling. How many murderers has he photographed? Probably a lot over the years. I mean, I don't count the murderers. There's a lot of politicians who could be murderers. He laughs again. He saw "straight through" Tony Blair and says that when he drove away from No 10 after photographing Gordon Brown, "I turned to my assistants and said 'boys, we've been f‑‑‑‑‑." Brown was a seducer. 'Oh, Bailey, you've been such an icon to people" and 'have you got any honours" and 'oh, you deserve everything." Nobody is that nice. His voice is mocking. He liked John Major though photographically he was dull. He adored Baroness Thatcher, called her "toots." She was very smart. But he says that most politicians are "educated fools, lecturers who never actually say anything." He didn't vote until the last general election. It was photographing the then shadow chancellor that prompted him to. "The one I really liked was George Osborne," he says. It's the first name he rattles off without help. I thought he was smart. And he had a sense of humour. I'd never voted and I voted for him because I was impressed with him. But he says he isn't a Conservative. I'm not anything. Does Bailey, who has a house in Devon, like holidays, taking time off? Nah. Not because I'm saintly but because it's what I like doing. Will he ever give it all up? Only when I'm dead! He's off again, laughing at some thought that he may or may not share with the rest of us. "Wouldn't it be awful to get to heaven, only for God to say 'I've got this dodgy little blonde for you Bailey!"" He continues to giggle and rasp. "I always think that's the first thing he's going to say to me: 'Oi, Bailey, could you do some pictures?"" I imagine even He might get short shrift. 'We'll Take Manhattan," a BBC Four drama starring Karen Gillan and Aneurin Barnard as a young Jean Shrimpton and David Bailey, will be released later this month