Bruce Davidson: Subway

Product Information

Book is a first edition and dust jacket has a small rub and tear on the upper front corner, otherwise there is slight rubbing to the dust jacket.

Davidson's first extensive series in color, his exploratoin into the dark grafitti-filled New York subway perfectly complements his portrayal of the everyday human condition. Disrupting the closed off realm of riders who captured his eye was a central part of Davidson’s process: “if they said, ‘Yes’, it was yes; if they said, ‘No,’ then I knew it was no forever. As such, these are sure to become highly collectible photographs given the provenance linking them directly to the Magnum collective and each of the photographers who chose to participate in the event. Davidson’s accompanying text tells the story behind the images, clarifying his method and dramatizing his experience.He is best known for his work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and as New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs. Each photograph in the Subway series captures a rare, short-lived moment in time within the history of socialization in the United States. It received plenty of critical acclaim both as a document showing the unique moment in the societal fabric in New York City as well as its phenomenal use of extremes of shadow and color set against flash-lit skin. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. He also carried quarters in his pockets to hand out to the people in the subways who often ask for money.

His glowing skin tone seemed to match the chains around his neck, which James Agee would often refer to as ‘badges of being.Passengers on the platform looked at me, with my expensive camera around my neck, in a way that made me feel like a tourist—or a deranged person. Préface de Henry Geldzhaler et 56 illustrations photographiques en couleurs choisies parmi plusieurs milliers de clichés réalisés par le photographe entre 1980 et 1985. Although our meeting was momentary, he gave himself to the camera and then was gone, back into the bowels of Brooklyn. His variety of experiences are palpable in the pages of Subway; through Davidson’s photographs we are taken on a visceral journey through this vast network of darkened tunnels, vandalized platforms and eerie carriages. In today’s divided society—suffering from an epidemic of loneliness—these photographs are a reminder of the possibility and power of human connection.