Bruce Davidson

As I read certain names become more and more familiar.  Bruce Davidson is one of them.  After seeing the photograph referred to as "London. Girl holding Kitten" a number of times over the last few days in various places I thought I ought to look him up and find out more.  I had seen some of his work before and especially in a Magnum book I own (currently and very frustratingly in storage) but I wanted to find out who this man is.  Since doing so I have to say I feel like I have fallen in love with his work.  I find the photograph of the couple in an image referred to as "New York. The Garden Cafeteria" more powerful than any of Diane Arbus' images I've looked at (sorry if that is heresy!) because it seems far less manipulative to me and contains a great deal more empathy for the couple as individuals rather than projections of some inner nightmare of the photographer's, and I think his subject matter, from the poverty in Spanish Harlem, New York to the Civil riots in Alabama, to the post war streets of London and the lives of New Yorkers in Central Park all so incredibly vital and important.

Bruce Davidson was born in 1933 and has lived and worked through the photography heyday of the 50s and 60s where so much important work seems to have taken place.  He never stopped and continues to work (he has a Facebook page) and be exhibited all over the world.  He has won plaudits and titles galore and is one of the prestigious Magnum photographers.  He started taking photographs when he was 10 years old and eventually went on to meet Henry Cartier-Bresson when stationed in Paris in the army.

Works of note include 100th Street, Spanish Harlem: New York, The Dwarf, Brooklyn Gang, Freedom Rides, documentation of the Civil Right's movement and more.

I absolutely love The Widow of Montmartre for it's terrible sadness, depth, contrasts and extraordinary intense feeling that none of those words can begin to convey. I very much like the shallow depth of field too and the deep vignetting.

Links:
Magnum Photographers
Life Magazine
Wikipedia