Brooklyn Gang

Artist Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933)

Date1959; printed 1970

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall: 8 1/8 x 12 1/8 inches (20.64 x 30.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.2614

InscribedSignature Signed in artist's hand Back of Print

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionGelatin silver print of teenagers. Signature on back of print.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

Bruce Davidson’s photojournalistic work is deeply informed by a personal sensibility. One of the earliest projects to bring him recognition was Brooklyn Gang, which documents The Jokers, a rebellious teenage gang in New York City. Through a social worker, Davidson gained intimate access to his subjects, following them daily and photographing their often erratic, troubled and violent existence. Davidson’s images are neither exploitative nor sensationalist. Rather, they offer a candid look at adolescence that was at odds with the more sanitized views of teenage life typically pictured in the mass media of the late 1950s.

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