Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson was born September 5, 1933 in America. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958. His photographs, notably those taken in New York, have been widely exhibited and published. He is known for photographing communities usually hostile to outsiders. Bruce was interested in photography from an early age and at age 10, his mother built him a darkroom in their basement.

Davidson went on to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, where one of his teachers was artist Josef Albers. For his college theory, Davidson created a photo essay that was published in Life magazine in 1955, documenting football players behind the scenes of the game. After graduating, he was drafted into the army and was stationed near Paris, France. It was there that he met his lifelong mentor, Henri Cartier-Bresson. He took inspiration from Henri, and went on to reevaluate the genre of photojournalism with his singular style and methods. He is best known for his photo-essays documenting subversive and counter culture groups. 

Once Bruce left the military service in 1957, Davidson worked as a freelance photographer for Life magazine and a year later joined Magnum photos. Unlike other photographers before him, Davidson embedded himself in the world of his subjects for extended periods, the results of which formed a series of powerful photo-essays. One of the earliest examples of this dedication was when he joined the circus in 1958 in order to become fully immersed in the environment.

USA. New York City. 1980. Subway.

USA. New York City. 1959. Brooklyn Gang.