Bruce Davidson Research Post 1

Research Post

Bruce Davidson

Context
Bruce Davidson (born September 5, 1933) is an American photographer. He is known for photographing communities usually hostile to outsiders. Davidson was part of the military which links to the fact that he took images of things that normal people would not witness as he would've experienced things that everyday people would not experience. He photographed members of a gang which led on to him photographing pictures of urban life in subways for example. I chose this photographer from the exam paper because I liked his work, mainly because of his images from his subway shoot. The graffiti in the backgrounds grabbed my attention, the types of people he took images of also got my attention.

Photographs

In this photograph we can see a hall with wooden floor, we can see a man and women in the centre of the picture and various other people scattered around the outer sections of the image. The man and the girl are standing by a cigarette machine. The girl is looking at herself in a mirror and posing, the man is rolling up the sleeves on his shirt. The fact that the man is trying to change the way he looks shows that he may want to impress the girl by smartening himself up to look more presentable for her. By looking at herself in the mirror it tells us the type of girl she may be, she likes looking at herself rather than taking notice of anyone around her. The man is trying to impress the girl but she isn't taking notice of him. This links to the fact that Bruce Davidson took pictures of a gang and took picture of things everyday people wouldn't experience. The types of people they are tells us they may not have been respected during the 1950s.

In this photograph we can see a group of boys standing on what looks like a pier because of the wooden floor. In the image there are two main boys, one with a cigarette in his mouth wearing glasses and one with a cigarette in his hand with his shirt off. We can tell that these boys are part of the 1950s gang because of their cigarettes, tattoos and sunglasses. These two boys could be seen as the main members of the gang as they look as if the boys behind them are following them. Bruce Davidson took images of places that normal people wouldn't witness, this can be linked to this image as the location they are in almost looks derelict with a few people hanging around in the background. He makes this gang look very intimidating as they are dressed differently to normal 1950s men and are photographed constantly with cigarettes in their mouths.

In this photograph we can see a couple consisting of a black man and a white woman who are laying down together next to a pond. The location they are in tells us about their society at the time, they aren't surrounded by anyone and they are away from mainstream life. This suggests to us that people may not agree with their relationship as there was more racism towards black people in the 1950s than there is now. This links to the fact that he photographed images that stereotypical people would not be used to. People in the 1950s avoided relationships with black people as they were still trying to grasp the concept of equal rights of black people. The society at the time represents why these people had to keep their relationship a secret.

In this photograph we can see a group of boys sitting at a table in a restaurant, on of the boys is walking away with a cigarette in his mouth. We can tell this picture is part of the gang pictures that Davidson took because of the tattoos and cigarettes. The boys in the background look quiet and engrossed in something, this tells us that they may not be the main members of the gang as they are acting differently in a public environment compared to other guy who is getting up boldly with a cigarette in his mouth. People in the 1950s would not be used to this kind of behaviour as these groups hung around in less public areas so the fact that they are in a public area may be a shock to some people which is why the the other group of men look quiet and awkward.

Influence Summary
This photographer has influenced my work because I like his ideas of photographing locations that regular people wouldn't see. I liked his image of the man with the cigarette in his mouth who is out of focus, I liked this image because it represents the lives of the younger generation in the 1950s. The black and white effect in this image also adds a good effect because it creates a 1950s effect.

I used the same sort of composition as Davidson did where the person with the cigarette is blurry and not in focus. This is similar to the Davidson's work where people regularly don't expect to see the older generation smoking but in the location she is in it is normal. By focusing in on the background it shows that life goes on and people tend not to acknowledge what other people are doing. I chose to keep this image in colour rather than black and white like Davidson's images because by making it black and white it really made the women blend in with the background.