Brian Duffy shot the cover image for David Bowie’s *Aladdin Sane*. The celebrated photograph shows Bowie with vivid red hair, closed eyes, and a red-and-blue lightning bolt painted across his face.
Duffy made the image in January 1973 at his north London studio. Bowie was photographed by a professional team that included make-up artist Pierre Laroche, while the lightning-bolt design became the defining visual symbol of the album and one of the most recognisable images in popular music.
The cover was created during Bowie’s rise from cult artist to international star. *Aladdin Sane*, released in April 1973, followed *The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars* and was written partly during Bowie’s American tour. Its title is a pun on “A Lad Insane,” and the album is often understood as Ziggy Stardust confronting the pressures and contradictions of fame.
Terry O’Neill photographed Bowie for the *Diamond Dogs* cover session, but Guy Peellaert created that sleeve’s painting. Mick Rock is strongly associated with Bowie photography, while Anton Corbijn worked with Bowie much later. The *Aladdin Sane* photographer was Duffy.