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==Early life and photography==
==Early life and photography==


Davidson was born on September 5, 1933 in [[Oak Park, Illinois]]. When he was 10, his mother built him a [[darkroom]] in their basement and Davidson began taking photographs.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Goldberg, Vicki | author2=Davidson, Bruce, 1933-, (photographer.) | title=Bruce Davidson : an illustrated biography | publication-date=2015 | publisher=Munich London New York Prestel | isbn=978-3-7913-8135-0 }}</ref> Soon after, he approached a local photographer{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} who taught him the technical nuances of photography, in addition to lighting and printing skills. His artistic influences included [[Robert Frank]], [[W. Eugene Smith|Eugene Smith]], and [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]].<ref>Mary Blume, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/arts/28iht-blume.4748533.html?pagewanted=all Bruce Davidson's 'encounters with the invisible'], The New York Times, February 28, 2007.</ref>
Davidson was born on September 5, 1933 in [[Oak Park, Illinois]]. When he was 10, his mother built him a [[darkroom]] in their basement and Davidson began taking photographs.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Goldberg, Vicki | author2=Davidson, Bruce, 1933-, (photographer.) | title=Bruce Davidson : an illustrated biography | publication-date=2015 | publisher=Munich London New York Prestel | isbn=978-3-7913-8135-0 }}</ref> Soon after, he approached a local photographer<ref>{{Citation | author1=Warren, Lynne | author2=Warren, Lynn | title=Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Taylor and Francis | isbn=978-0-203-94338-0 }}</ref> who taught him the technical nuances of photography, in addition to lighting and printing skills. His artistic influences included [[Robert Frank]], [[W. Eugene Smith|Eugene Smith]], and [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]].<ref>Mary Blume, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/28/arts/28iht-blume.4748533.html?pagewanted=all Bruce Davidson's 'encounters with the invisible'], The New York Times, February 28, 2007.</ref>


At 19, Davidson won his first national recognition for his photography, the 1952 Kodak National High School Photographic Award, for a picture of an owl.<ref>Caption 'First prize in the animal life classification was awarded to Bruce L. Davidson of Oak Park-River Forest (III.) High'. '1952 Kingpins in the World of Photography'. In ''The Glenville Torch'' Volume XXXIII—No. 1 Friday, October 10, 1952. GLENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, CLEVELAND, OHIO</ref><ref>see also Jim Hughes' recollection at http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/09/my-summer-in-maine.html</ref> After he graduated from high school, Davidson attended the [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] and [[Yale University]], where one of his teachers was artist [[Josef Albers]].<ref name=":0" /> Davidson showed Albers a box of prints of alcoholics on [[Skid Row]]; Albers told him{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} to throw out his "sentimental" work and join his class in drawing and color. For his college thesis, Davidson created a photo essay that was published in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' in 1955, documenting the emotions of football players behind the scenes of the game.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
At 19, Davidson won his first national recognition for his photography, the 1952 Kodak National High School Photographic Award, for a picture of an owl.<ref>Caption 'First prize in the animal life classification was awarded to Bruce L. Davidson of Oak Park-River Forest (III.) High'. '1952 Kingpins in the World of Photography'. In ''The Glenville Torch'' Volume XXXIII—No. 1 Friday, October 10, 1952. GLENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, CLEVELAND, OHIO</ref><ref>see also Jim Hughes' recollection at http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/09/my-summer-in-maine.html</ref> After he graduated from high school, Davidson attended the [[Rochester Institute of Technology]] and [[Yale University]], where one of his teachers was artist [[Josef Albers]].<ref name=":0" /> Davidson showed Albers a box of prints of alcoholics on [[Skid Row]]; Albers told him{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} to throw out his "sentimental" work and join his class in drawing and color. For his college thesis, Davidson created a photo essay that was published in ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' in 1955, documenting the emotions of football players behind the scenes of the game.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}


Following college, Davidson was drafted into the [[US Army]], where he served in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] at [[Fort Huachuca]], Arizona, attached to the post's photo pool. Initially, he was given routine photo assignments. Undaunted, Davidson created out of seemingly mundane material unique photo studies. An editor of the post's newspaper, recognizing his talents, asked that he be permanently assigned to the post newspaper. There, given a certain degree of autonomy{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}, he was allowed to further hone his talents. After discharge from the Army he visited Paris and, in bohemian Montmartre, photographed Madame Fauche, a woman who had known Matisse and Gauguin, producing a photo essay on the ''Widow of Montmartre''. The series impressed [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]] and led to Davidson's induction into Magnum.<ref name=":0">Hughes, H. S. (2016). THE MAKING OF BRUCE DAVIDSON. PDN ; Photo District News, 36(7), 24.</ref>
Following college, Davidson was drafted into the [[US Army]], where he served in the [[Signal Corps (United States Army)|Signal Corps]] at [[Fort Huachuca]], Arizona, attached to the post's photo pool. Initially, he was given routine photo assignments. Undaunted, Davidson created out of seemingly mundane material unique photo studies. An editor of the post's newspaper, recognizing his talents, asked that he be permanently assigned to the post newspaper. There, given a certain degree of autonomy{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}, he was allowed to further hone his talents. After discharge from the Army he visited Paris and, in bohemian Montmartre, photographed the widow of the impressionist painter [[Léon Fauché|Leon Fauché]] with her husband's paintings in an archetypal [[garret]]. She was a woman old enough to have known [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]], [[Pierre-Auguste Renoir]], [[Henri Matisse]] and [[Paul Gauguin]]. Davidson's resultant photo essay ''Widow of Montmartre'' was published in Esquire in 1958. The series impressed [[Henri Cartier-Bresson]] who became a personal friend, and led to Davidson's induction into Magnum.<ref name=":0">Hughes, H. S. (2016). THE MAKING OF BRUCE DAVIDSON. PDN ; Photo District News, 36(7), 24.</ref>


== Magnum photographer ==
== Magnum photographer ==

Revision as of 23:58, 22 December 2018

Bruce L. Davidson
Born (1933-09-05) September 5, 1933 (age 90)
Oak Park, Illinois
OccupationPhotographer
Notable workBrooklyn Gang, The Dwarf, East 100th Street, Subway

Bruce L. Davidson (born September 5, 1933) is an American photographer. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958. His photographs, notably those taken in Harlem, New York City, have been widely exhibited and published. He is known for photographing communities usually hostile to outsiders.[1]

Early life and photography

Davidson was born on September 5, 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois. When he was 10, his mother built him a darkroom in their basement and Davidson began taking photographs.[2] Soon after, he approached a local photographer[3] who taught him the technical nuances of photography, in addition to lighting and printing skills. His artistic influences included Robert Frank, Eugene Smith, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.[4]

At 19, Davidson won his first national recognition for his photography, the 1952 Kodak National High School Photographic Award, for a picture of an owl.[5][6] After he graduated from high school, Davidson attended the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, where one of his teachers was artist Josef Albers.[7] Davidson showed Albers a box of prints of alcoholics on Skid Row; Albers told him[citation needed] to throw out his "sentimental" work and join his class in drawing and color. For his college thesis, Davidson created a photo essay that was published in Life in 1955, documenting the emotions of football players behind the scenes of the game.[citation needed]

Following college, Davidson was drafted into the US Army, where he served in the Signal Corps at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, attached to the post's photo pool. Initially, he was given routine photo assignments. Undaunted, Davidson created out of seemingly mundane material unique photo studies. An editor of the post's newspaper, recognizing his talents, asked that he be permanently assigned to the post newspaper. There, given a certain degree of autonomy[citation needed], he was allowed to further hone his talents. After discharge from the Army he visited Paris and, in bohemian Montmartre, photographed the widow of the impressionist painter Leon Fauché with her husband's paintings in an archetypal garret. She was a woman old enough to have known Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin. Davidson's resultant photo essay Widow of Montmartre was published in Esquire in 1958. The series impressed Henri Cartier-Bresson who became a personal friend, and led to Davidson's induction into Magnum.[7]

Magnum photographer

After his military service, in 1957, Davidson worked briefly as a freelance photographer[citation needed], before joining Magnum the following year.[8] During the following few years he most notably produced Brooklyn Gang[9][10] and The Dwarf. From 1961 to 1965, Davidson produced one of his most famous bodies of work as he chronicled the events and effects of the Civil Rights Movement around the country, in both the north and the south. In support of his project, Davidson received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1961, and the project was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Upon the completion of his documentation of the Civil Rights Movement, Davidson received the first ever photography grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Davidson’s next project, published in 1970 as East 100th Street—a two-year documentation of a conspicuously poverty-stricken[11][12] block in East Harlem—is perhaps his most famous. Its series of Environmental portraits were shot on large format film with a view camera. Vicki Goldberg proposes that it was the first work of photojournalism to be presented as an art book. The project was also displayed at the Museum of Modern Art. Davidson followed this with Subway, a classic portrayal of the New York City Subway system, in the late 1970s. Using color, Davidson documented a gritty and lively urban underworld. Over a decade later, in the early 1990s, Davidson completed a four-year exploration of Central Park, showing it as a beautiful and grand homage to New York City.

In 1998, Davidson returned to East 100th Street to document the revitalization, renewal and changes that occurred in the 30 years since he last documented it. For this visit, he presented a community slide show and received an Open Society Institute Individual Fellowship Award.

Davidson has directed two award-winning short films, a documentary titled Living off the Land and a more surreal tale titled Isaac Singer’s Nightmare and Mrs. Pupko’s Beard.

An image from his Brooklyn Gang series was used as the cover for Bob Dylan's 2009 album Together Through Life.

Davidson continues to work as an editorial photographer.

Awards

Davidson received the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award at the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards and the Infinity Award Life Time Achievement in 2018 by the International Center of Photography.

Publications

  • Isaac Bashevis Singer and the Lower Eastside: Photographs by Bruce Davidson. Softback ISBN 0-299-20624-6.
  • East 100th Street.
  • Bruce Davidson Photographs. Agrinde/Summit, 1978. Paperback ISBN 0-671-40068-1.
  • Subway.
  • Portraits. New York: Aperture, 1991. Hardback ISBN 0-89381-851-8.
  • Brooklyn Gang: Summer 1959. Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 1998. ISBN 978-0944092507.
  • England/Scotland 1960. Göttingen: Steidl, 2006. ISBN 3-86521-127-5.
  • Outside Inside. Göttingen: Steidl, 2010. ISBN 978-3-86521-908-4. A three-volume collection containing black and white photographs that spanned his career to date.[13]
  • Black and White. Göttingen: Steidl, 2012. ISBN 978-3869304328. A five-volume set comprising reprints of Circus (1958), Brooklyn Gang (1959), Time of Change (1961-1965), East 100th Street (1966-1968), and Central Park (1992-1995), some of them newly edited and expanded.
  • In Color. Göttingen: Steidl, 2014. ISBN 978-3869305646.
  • Survey. New York: Aperture; Madrid: Fundación Mapfre, 2016. ISBN 978-1-59711-377-9. With texts by Charlotte Cotton, Carlos Gollonet, Frits Gierstberg, and Francesco Zanot. Exhibition catalogue. Contains work from Brooklyn Gang, Subway, Central Park, East 100th Street and more recent Paris and Los Angeles landscapes.

See also

References

  1. ^ Davies, Lucy (19 September 2014). "Bruce Davidson: 'people didn't really know what a camera could do'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Vicki; Davidson, Bruce, 1933-, (photographer.) (2015), Bruce Davidson : an illustrated biography, Munich London New York Prestel, ISBN 978-3-7913-8135-0{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Warren, Lynne; Warren, Lynn (2005), Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Photography, 3-Volume Set, Taylor and Francis, ISBN 978-0-203-94338-0
  4. ^ Mary Blume, Bruce Davidson's 'encounters with the invisible', The New York Times, February 28, 2007.
  5. ^ Caption 'First prize in the animal life classification was awarded to Bruce L. Davidson of Oak Park-River Forest (III.) High'. '1952 Kingpins in the World of Photography'. In The Glenville Torch Volume XXXIII—No. 1 Friday, October 10, 1952. GLENVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, CLEVELAND, OHIO
  6. ^ see also Jim Hughes' recollection at http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2010/09/my-summer-in-maine.html
  7. ^ a b Hughes, H. S. (2016). THE MAKING OF BRUCE DAVIDSON. PDN ; Photo District News, 36(7), 24.
  8. ^ Miller, Russell (1997), Magnum : fifty years at the front line of history, Secker & Warburg, ISBN 978-0-436-20373-2
  9. ^ Tom, P. (1997). Bad Boys: Bruce Davidson's Gang Photographs and Outlaw Masculinity. Art Journal, 56(2), 69-74.
  10. ^ Edmonds, Lizzie (17 December 2013). "Love and life in 1950s Brooklyn: Arresting images of a teen gang as they come of age in their neighborhood". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  11. ^ Dehavenon, A. L. (1995). A retrospective on two and a half decades of East Harlem research. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 749(1), 137-151.
  12. ^ Stringfellow, W. (1978). Christianity, Poverty and the Practice of the Law. Cap. UL Rev., 8, 451.
  13. ^ Sean O'Hagan, "Outside Inside by Bruce Davidson", The Guardian, 13 June 2010.

External links

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