3 OF 3 
Spice Girls (Mel B; Geri Halliwell; Emma Bunton; Victoria Beckham; Mel C)
3 of 3 portraits of Emma Bunton
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Spice Girls (Mel B; Geri Halliwell; Emma Bunton; Victoria Beckham; Mel C)
by Nigel Shafran
chromogenic print, 1997
17 3/4 in. x 22 in. (450 mm x 558 mm) image size
Purchased, 2017
Photographs Collection
NPG x200144
On display in Room 28 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sittersback to top
- Victoria Beckham (née Adams) (1975-), Singer; fashion designer; member of Spice Girls. Sitter in 6 portraits. Identify
- Melanie Brown (1975-), Singer; member of Spice Girls. Sitter in 3 portraits. Identify
- Emma Lee Bunton (1976-), Singer; member of Spice Girls. Sitter in 3 portraits. Identify
- Melanie Chisholm (1974-), Singer; member of Spice Girls. Sitter in 3 portraits. Identify
- Geraldine Estelle ('Geri') Halliwell (1972-), Singer; member of the Spice Girls. Sitter in 5 portraits. Identify
This portraitback to top
The Guardian commissioned Nigel Shafran to photograph the group on tour in America in 1997. In this cover image, the band members were instantly recognisable by their footwear alone. The accompanying interview by American avant-garde feminist writer Kathy Acker was headlined, ‘The world at their feet.’
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1997back to top
Current affairs
The Labour party - re-branded as New Labour - win a spectacular landslide election and Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister. Their electoral campaign promised that 'things can only get better' and that their priorities would be 'education, education, education.' While New Labour's 'third way' centralist approach put off some party traditionalists, it secured the popular vote.Princess Diana and her lover Dodi Fayed die in a car crash in Paris.
Art and science
J.K. Rowling publishes Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first of seven fantasy books chronicling the life of Harry and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: learning magic, breaking school rules, romantic entanglements and their struggles against the evil Lord Voldemort.Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland announce that they have cloned the first mammal from an adult cell: '6LL3', or Dolly the Sheep.
International
Governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten hands the island back to China after one hundred and fifty years as a British Colony. Although sovereignty was restored to China, it was agreed that the Island would become a 'Special Administrative Region' under the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle, effectively keeping its capitalist economy and way of life for a period of 50 years.Comments back to top
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