Bruce Davidson American photographer Date of Birth: 05.09.1933 Country: USA

Biography of Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson, an American photographer, was born in 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois. With his father absent, Davidson's mother worked at a factory and made sure that her son never felt disadvantaged. At the age of 10, Davidson developed a passion for photography, and his mother set up a darkroom in their basement for him to work on his first photographs. He freely roamed the streets of Oak Park with his camera, and a local photographer provided him with the necessary theoretical knowledge. As a teenager, Davidson started visiting Chicago and became increasingly captivated by the unexpected perspectives of street life. At 16, he won his first award, the Kodak National High School prize, and later pursued photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, where he studied under the renowned artist and educator, Josef Albers.

After serving in the army in Arizona, Davidson worked as a staff photographer for a newspaper, further sharpening his photographic talent. In the late 1950s, he turned his lens towards the "underside of Brooklyn life," capturing the gangs of Brooklyn in his renowned series, "Brooklyn Gang." Davidson's most famous works were created in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. In 1962, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and his completed project was later exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His next major project, "East 100th Street," portrayed the realities of life in Harlem. Some of his photographs were criticized for their perceived grotesqueness, but the project still found its place in the Museum of Modern Art.

In the late 1970s, Davidson documented the New York City subway system in his project titled "Subway," using color to convey his emotions with even greater intensity. In 1998, he returned to his "East 100th Street" series, capturing the changes that had occurred over three decades and receiving a grant from the Open Society Institute Individual Fellowship Award. Among his other notable works is a series of photographs dedicated to Central Park, showcasing his love for New York City. In 2008, Davidson published a book of portraits featuring famous individuals such as John Cage, Marilyn Monroe, Leonard Bernstein, Kiki Smith, Andy Warhol, and Jack Kerouac.

Currently, Bruce Davidson resides in New York City with his wife, Emily. In 2011, he was honored with the Sony World Photography Awards for his outstanding contributions to the art of photography. His works have been exhibited in numerous museums worldwide and published in various publications. Davidson is also the author of two documentary films, "Living off the Land" and "Isaac Singer's Nightmare and Mrs. Pupko's Beard." Some of his notable books include "East 100th Street" (1970), "Portraits. New York: Aperture Foundation" (1991), "Outside Inside" (2010), and "England/Scotland 1960" (2006).

Interestingly, in 2009, Bob Dylan used one of Davidson's photographs from the "Brooklyn Gang" series for the cover of his album "Together Through Life."