BRUCE DAVIDSON (B. 1933)
The South, 1962
Print in Colors
6 1/2" x 9 1/2"
Bruce Davidson is an American photographer known for capturing images of communities and individuals living on the fringes of society. Imbued with sympathy for those potentially hostile to the general population, Davidsonâ€â„¢s work is marked by a fearlessness and a lack of moral judgement. Some of the artistâ€â„¢s most famous photographs depicts scenes and portraits of individuals riding on the New York subway system during the early 1980s—when it was exceptionally dangerous to ride, covered in graffiti, and full of trash—which were compiled in the famous photo book Subway (1986).â€Å“Look, Iâ€â„¢m kind of an explorer,â€Â the artist once declared. â€Å“Iâ€â„¢m entering a world and it takes time.â€Â Born on September 5, 1933 in Oak Park, IL, he began taking photographs from the age of 10 and had a darkroom built in his single motherâ€â„¢s home. Davidson went on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, where he developed an interest in the work of W. Eugene Smith and Henri Cartier-Bresson. He would become a widely exhibited and published photographer, and eventually a contributing member of the famed photographic cooperative Magnum Photos. Today, his works are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washingto,n D.C., The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. Davidson lives and works in New York, NY.

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