Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson:Brooklyn Gang

 

Bruce Davidson is an American photographer who's majority of work is concentrated on people. Davidson captures people and their moments in time. He doesn't objectify his subjects but rather gives us insight into them and who they are. Davidson’s 1959 project Brooklyn Gang is an intimate photographic study of a rebellious Brooklyn teenage gang, who called themselves The Jokers. Davidson was able to document their candid manifestations of worry, energy, enthusiasm, anger, and occasional sadness. The gang seemed to exist in their own secluded world, meandering from Coney Island to diners and taxicabs, anxiously moving forward with an unknown future and unknown goals. Some of them were even thoroughly troubled: one member died from a heroin overdose a few years after Davidson left them. Not only is Davidson’s work a sincere portrayal of troubled teenagers coming of age, but it also acts as a documentation of teenage life during 1950s, exposing the emotional climate of that time period and exposing the dark side of a supposedly innocent time period.
The thing I love about these photos is that they return to my initial experience with photography which was capturing a moment in time. I have always been more interested in portraits because they tell you something. There is something about the human connection that is hard to escape. I also enjoy these because they capture such an iconic point in time. Back then, these photos were just pictures of what was happening. Now they are a window into the past that we can only revisit through photography. There was something real about this time, something tangible and meaningful.My favorite shot is the one in the train. It's the perfect balance of positive and negative space and the composition with the windows to the left are too good. The lighting highlighting the face on the right worked out perfectly and almost gives it a sort of Film Noir feel. These are just photos I genuinely love to look at.

Jared