How Bruce Davidson captured worlds in transition
- Text by Miss Rosen
- Photography by Bruce Davidson
“My way of working is to enter an unknown world, explore it over a period of time, and learn from it,” said Magnum Photos member Bruce Davidson, who has stood at the forefront of documentary photography since 1956.
The new exhibition, Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs, is drawn from an anonymous gift to the museum of approximately 350 of Davidson’s photographs, which capture what he describes as ‘worlds in transition’.
Drawn to people on the fringes, Davidson began immersing himself in communities in 1958 when he embarked on the series, The Dwarf and the Clyde Beatty Circus.
“Davidson’s focus is not the spectacle, rather the day-to-day of the performers and workers behind the scenes,” says Molly Everett, Curatorial Assistant, Modern and Contemporary Art at The Menil Collection. “He developed a close relationship with a clown, Jimmy, who is featured throughout the series.”
Always one to immerse himself in various scenes and subcultures, Davidson started work on his series Brooklyn Gang after reading a newspaper article about New York street gangs. The photographer got to know the Jokers – a group of Catholic school students and dropouts living in the then-predominantly Irish and impoverished neighbourhood of Park Slope.
Seeing himself as an “outsider on the inside”, Davidson spent 11 months with them to create a sensitive and empathic portrait of teens branding together to counter the effects of poverty, abuse, and neglect.
Esquire published the work to international acclaim, with Davidson going on to win a Guggenheim Fellowship to photograph “Youth in America”. In 1961, he joined the Freedom Riders – college-age activists at the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement in the South.
“Riding on that bus with the Freedom Riders, I became sensitised, and the exposure developed my perception,” said Davidson, who continued to document the efforts to end segregation for the series, Time of Change.
“Davidson faced many dangers while documenting the Civil Rights Movement,” says Everett. She shares a passage by Davidson, recounting a visit to the South when he wasn’t on assignment.
Davidson wrote: “One night I was staying in a cheap motel in a small Georgia town. In the local cafe I had been taking pictures of two women sitting at a table. That night the police came to my motel and took me to the station for interrogation. The police chief and others in the room probed if I was an ‘agitator’ from up North or a communist from Russia. They told me to get out of town in the morning or they would ‘stomp’ me. I left in the morning.”
Despite the threats, Davidson soldiered on, his commitment to documenting the stories of the marginalised and oppressed throughout his career. “His drive to humanise underrepresented and oppressed communities may, in part, be attributed to his experience as a Jewish-American individual,” says Everett.
“Although Davidson did not experience overt racism, he did not feel fully integrated into the dominant culture. His work is representative of how photography continues to be a crucial medium to the ongoing struggles for justice and equality.”
Collection Close-Up: Bruce Davidson’s Photographs is on view at the Menil Collection in Houston through May 22, 2022.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square
Peep Man — Before its LED-beaming modern refresh, the Manhattan plaza was a hotbed for seedy transgression. A new memoir revisits its red light district heyday.
Written by: Miss Rosen
In a world of noise, IC3PEAK are finding radicality in the quiet
Coming Home — Having once been held up as a symbol of Russian youth activism and rebellion, the experimental duo are now living in exile. Their latest album explores their new reality.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Are we steamrolling towards the apocalypse?
One second closer to midnight — While the rolling news cycle, intensifying climate crisis and rapidly advancing technology can make it feel as if the end days are upon us, newsletter columnist Emma Garland remembers that things have always been terrible, and that is a natural part of human life.
Written by: Emma Garland
In a city of rapid gentrification, one south London estate stands firm
A Portrait of Central Hill — Social housing is under threat across the British capital. But residents of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace are determined to save their homes, and their community.
Written by: Alex King
Analogue Appreciation: Maria Teriaeva’s five pieces that remind her of home
From Sayan to Savoie — In an ever more digital, online world, we ask our favourite artists about their most cherished pieces of physical culture. First up, the Siberian-born, Paris-based composer and synthesist.
Written by: Maria Teriaeva
Petition to save the Prince Charles Cinema signed by over 100,000 people in a day
PCC forever — The Soho institution has claimed its landlord, Zedwell LSQ Ltd, is demanding the insertion of a break clause that would leave it “under permanent threat of closure”.
Written by: Isaac Muk