Bruce Gilden
Encyclopedia
Bruce Gilden is a noted street photographer
, known for his work in New York City
.
at Penn State, he saw Michelangelo Antonioni
's film Blowup
in 1968. Influenced by the film, he purchased his first camera and began taking night classes in photography
at the School of Visual Arts
of New York. Fascinated with normal people on the street and the idea of visual spontaneity, Gilden turned to a career in photography. He routinely uses a flash
, alerting his subjects to his presence, unlike most street photographers. His first major project was documenting the sensuality of the bodies of the people at Coney Island
.
A member of Magnum Photos
since 1998, he shot images of Japan
's Yakuza
mobsters, the homeless, prostitutes, and members of bike gangs between 1995 and 2000. According to Gilden, he was fascinated by the duality and double lives of the individuals he photographed. Gilden is also the subject of Misery Loves Company: The Life and Death of Bruce Gilden, a documentary produced in 2007. He has also photographed rural Ireland
and horseracing there, as well as voodoo rituals in Haiti
.
Street photography
Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings....
, known for his work in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Career
While studying sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at Penn State, he saw Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's film Blowup
Blowup
Blowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
in 1968. Influenced by the film, he purchased his first camera and began taking night classes in photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
at the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...
of New York. Fascinated with normal people on the street and the idea of visual spontaneity, Gilden turned to a career in photography. He routinely uses a flash
Flash (photography)
A flash is a device used in photography producing a flash of artificial light at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other uses are capturing quickly moving objects or changing the quality of light...
, alerting his subjects to his presence, unlike most street photographers. His first major project was documenting the sensuality of the bodies of the people at Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
.
A member of Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices located in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo...
since 1998, he shot images of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
mobsters, the homeless, prostitutes, and members of bike gangs between 1995 and 2000. According to Gilden, he was fascinated by the duality and double lives of the individuals he photographed. Gilden is also the subject of Misery Loves Company: The Life and Death of Bruce Gilden, a documentary produced in 2007. He has also photographed rural Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and horseracing there, as well as voodoo rituals in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
.
Awards
- 1979: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
- 1980: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship
- 1984: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
- 1992: National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Fellowship; New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
- 1994: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA
- 1996: European Publishers’ Award for Photography; Villa Medicis Hors les Murs Artist’s Fellowship
- 1999: The Japan Foundation Artist’s Fellowship
- 2000: New York Foundation for the Arts (Artist’s Fellowship), New York, USA