LONDON.- A striking artwork by Damien Hirst is part of the front cover of David Bailey’s new book, Bailey’s Stardust, which will accompany the photographer’s exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, opening in February.

A team effort based on an idea by Bailey, the cover design incorporates a reproduction of one of Hirst’s ‘spin paintings’, which the artist has described as ‘childish … in the positive sense of the word’.

David Bailey says of the Hirst painting: ‘Damien was generous in letting me use one of his great spin paintings to create the front cover for my new book – Bailey’s Stardust.’

The fully illustrated hardback book, the cover of which is revealed today, is being published to coincide with a major exhibition of the work of David Bailey at the National Portrait Gallery, London from 6 February until 1 June 2014.

The title Bailey’s Stardust reflects the notion that regardless of who we are in life we are all made from, and ultimately return to, ‘stardust’. The book, like the exhibition, contains portraits of a wide range of sitters – from the glamorous to the impoverished, the famous and the anonymous – and, through images of skulls and pregnancy, powerful meditations on birth and death.

Designed by Bailey himself and available for £45, Bailey’s Stardust includes more than 250 colour and tritone portraits, some previously unseen, an essay by the art critic and writer Tim Marlow and an illustrated chronology.

Also announced today is a second book, Bailey Exposed. Published by the National Portrait Gallery on Thursday 5 December 2013 and priced at £9.99, this beautifully produced gift book features the celebrated British photographer’s personal observations on life, death, women, style, fashion, sex, class, the movies, the Sixties and photography. Drawing on numerous interviews and illustrated with many iconic photographs as well as unseen behind-the-scenes images from Bailey’s private archive, this book explores the man behind the camera.

The book also includes the reflections of some of the illustrious figures Bailey has worked with over the years, among them Anjelica Huston, Paul Smith, Jerry Hall, Catherine Deneuve, Mary Quant, Kenneth Williams, Jean Shrimpton, Diana Vreeland and Cecil Beaton, who provide fascinating insights into the experience of being the focus of Bailey’s lens.