The Face uncovered – stripping back the magazine’s iconic covers

The ground floor of the National Portrait Gallery is currently filled with naked portraits commissioned by The Face magazine that were never intended to be seen shorn of their decorative additions.These are the front cover photoshoots, from a magazine that set a new standard in using photography in popular culture, but you’re seeing them as they were never seen when they appeared in the newstands. Here, the portraits are show as works of art and are missing the branding and textual clutter