Sexy in the Sixties

Posing for the camera, these young performers would soon leave an indelible mark on the tumultuous decade which became known as the Swinging Sixties.

The photographs are among previously unexhibited works being displayed in Sixties Style at the National Portrait Gallery later this month.

The Barbara Windsor shot was taken in 1962 by Michael Ward, an Evening Standard photographer who specialised in capturing the emerging stars of the era.

That year, the 25-year-old actress was already earning plaudits. It would be two years before she appeared in Carry On Spying, the first of a series of nine Carry-Ons which elevated her to the status of national icon.

Diana Dors, perhaps the definitive sex symbol of the decade, is pictured performing at the Room at the Top nightclub in Ilford. It is not hard to see why the press called her "Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe". And like Monroe, she did not live to see her blonde hair turn grey, dying of cancer at the age of 52 in 1984.

The unmistakable features of Michael Caine face the camera in a picture taken by the Oscar-nominated film designer Michael Seymour. Caine's dark outfit and menacing stare make him look every inch the East End wide boy he would play in classic films like The Italian Job and Get Carter.

A shot of feminist Germaine Greer by Sunday Times photographer Bryan Wharton is among the other subjects included, along with Doctor Zhivago star Julie Christie, looking girlish in a headband.

Michael Ward recalled taking the photographs. "Every week I'd go and see some wonderful woman like Diana Dors and try to get as sexy a photograph as I could, within the bounds of propriety. They were making their way in their profession and wanted to be as glamorous as possible." Hazel Sutherland of the National Portrait Gallery said: "Wharton, Ward and Seymour are the most distinguished photographers in their field from that era and we're delighted to be able to show their works."

? Sixties Style comprises 33 pictures by the three photographers which are being exhibited in the Balcony Gallery at the National Portrait Gallery from 27 October. Admission is free.