New York is going through a perilous gentrification process that is failing its poorest residents. But a few decades ago those communities were thriving at their own pace and contributed to the fascination the world has for all things Big Apple. And nowhere was the lives of “real” New Yorkers more discernible than on the subway. The extensive network is one of busiest in the world and it’s where NYC residents feel very at home. Capturing those moments was Bruce Davidson, a photographer that documented in colour the palpable tenderness and danger that went on the gritty stations and heavily graffitied carriages. Photographs from Davidson’s well-known series Brooklyn Gangs and Central Park accompany images taken during the civil rights movement, as well as an assortment from his extensive project concerning East 100th Street, Harlem.
Known by some as patron saint of street photography, Bruce Davidson has just released the photo book “Bruce Davidson: Survey” which features a chunk of the photographer’s huge portfolio. The book gives a glimpse into his new work, in which he takes to the streets of Paris and LA, though the main focus is his older and most significant work – “Subway” – that recounts gripping subway tales including people held at gunpoint.
A photographer since the age of 10, Bruce Davidson found his niche early on, honing his skills by photographing people on the streets of Illinois. This confidence and experience allowed him to step into the dark and gritty underground of the New York City subway, documenting the friends, tourists, families, and homeless who commuted on the trains every day.
The work, which has been accredited to adding “Light, colour, humanity, affection, and hope” to our impressions of the New York subway system, depicts subway riders positioned against heavily graffitied backdrops. As Davidson’s first colour based project, bright colours and heavy contrasts give the opposite feeling to the fear and anxiety many travellers felt when riding the subway at the time.
Davidson photographed a multitude of people from various backdrop – both poor and affluent. In his images people are arrested, children look out of the windows, an elderly lady plays an accordion, travellers fall asleep, lovers embrace, girls fix their lipstick and people look bored. No subject is avoided, and nothing is shied away from. Despite initial fear of the subjects the photographer became familiar and comfortable, and by the end of the project declared to “see the subway as a metaphor for the world in which we live today” and describing it as a “great social equaliser”.
Browse through the stunning images below
Subway, 1980. Image from whitmanhansonphoto-wordpress.com
Subway, 1980. Image from gizmodo.com
Subway, 1980. Image from exit-express.com
Subway, 1980. Image from edelmangallery.com
Images courtesy of Magnum
“Bruce Davidson: Survey” is available on Aperture, and the accompanying exhibition is running until 15 January 2017 at Fundación Mapfre, Madrid, Spain.