Bruce Davidson

I have chosen to focus on Bruce Davidson's work as it focuses on an interesting time in history and he also shows us a good way to photograph people in a natural way. Davidson is an American photographer whose documentary work of gang life in Brooklyn, poor districts of Harlem, New York, and his photographs of the New York subway system in the 1970s helped him break new ground. He has been a member of the Magnum Photos agency since 1958. His mother built him a dark room and he began taking photos. Soon after, he approached a local photographer who taught him about the technical sides of photography, in addition to lighting and printing skills. His influences included Robert Frank, Eugene Smith, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

This picture is interesting as it shows gang cultures on the New york subway. This picture also uses a bright and interesting background covered in graffiti that  gives you a vivid and gritty idea of how the New York subway system really was. There are other formal elements within the image such as colour, contrast and pattern. The two men are standing parallel to each other and they are both wearing the same clothing, creating a pattern while informing the audience that they are apart of a gang. Colour is used within this image to create contrasts within the image. The two men are standing parallel to each other, making the contrast of race more visually striking as a result.

This is a celebrity portrait picture. I chose this picture because I find it interesting how the subject has been positioned mid movement. This positioning causes the subject to appear more natural and fluid than they would if they were simply posing uncomfortably for a picture. Other formal elements such as form, tone and pattern can be seen within this image. The black and white filter is used with the elements of form and tone to enhance the shadows within the image. This allows for more detail to be seen within the image. Pattern can be seen on the fence as it begins to change as the distance in the photo increases.

I like this picture because of the context. Davidson has chosen to photograph an interesting time and shows us some features of the time period. The image gives us an idea of the fashion within gang culture and the attitudes of the people within these gang cultures; they are seen smoking cigarettes as a sign of rebellion. Contrasts are a key element within this image as there are a few examples. The decking and building clash with the white sky to create a contrast. Another contrast can be seen with the two men standing within the foreground of the image. The man on the right can be seen wearing white while the man on the left can be seen wearing black. This causes connotations associated with the contrast to come to mind such as good and evil when thinking about the two individuals.

I like this picture because it tells you a story. We are immediately aware of the context in which the image is set and the social views. We can see that this is an entirely different America than we are accustomed to and Davidson highlights this to create an interesting subject point. The people within the image are represented as being strong and proud. This is mainly accomplished with the use of a proud pose which evokes such feelings as strength by having a good posture with the person's shoulders back and arms on his hips. This further informs the audience of the context as black people were attempting to represent themselves as a proud race who were equal to all members of society. This context is further enforced as the word "vote" is boldly written on the forehead of one of the people.

Summary:

Bruce Davidson uses strong references to the context of his images and uses poses to make his subjects appear more natural. The pose of the individuals reflect different character traits. The voting rights image reflects a strong pose while the gang image represents a more threatening stance. This collection of techniques combine to create depth to the image in a way that informs audiences of the story and the charters within the image.

Influence:

I would like to replicate some of the techniques that Davidson uses with his subjects. I would like to experiment with different ways of composing the photos and think about how I can place the subjects. I would take pictures of the subject as they are doing a pose or a movement in order to make the image seem more fluid.

I was able to replicate the style of Bruce Davidson by making movement a massive part of the image. The movement allows for the person to appear natural in the image instead of awkward. I have used a black and white filter with the image in order to reflect some of Davidson's use of formal elements.