A black and white photograph of a male figure tugging at his shirt sleeve and a female figure p…

Untitled

Artist Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933)

Date1959

Mediummid-vintage gelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 11 1/2 × 17 1/2 inches (29.2 × 44.5 cm)
Sheet: 16 × 20 inches (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Matted: 20 × 24 inches (50.8 × 61 cm)

Portfolio/Series"Brooklyn Gang" series

Credit LineGift of an anonymous donor.

Object number2018.16.18

On View

Not on view

Copyright© Bruce Davidson. The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextIn the spring of 1959, at the age of twenty-five, Bruce Davidson still looked young enough to hang out with the “The Jokers,” a group of teenagers from Brooklyn. After the self-proclaimed gang was featured in a newspaper arti-cle detailing their misdeeds, Davidson felt a keen desire to meet them. He wrote that he “found [himself] involved with a group of unpredictable youths who were mostly indifferent to me. In time they allowed me to witness their fear, depression and anger. I soon realized that I, too, was feeling some of their pain. In staying close to them, I uncovered my own feelings of failure, frustration and rage.” Davidson is known for his empathetic photographs, born of genuine interest in his subjects and a desire to remain with them for a long period of time. Known as a street photographer, he has a knack of finding subjects to explore and inhabit, leading to some of the most engaging photographic series of the twentieth century. This iconic image shows Cathy, the “Brigitte Bardot” of the group, prinking in front of a mirror. She stands on a cigarette machine in a bathhouse on the Coney Island Beach while another member of the gang, Artie Jean Marino, rolls his sleeve with careful precision. Davidson caught them living, often unawares, and young, but look-ing to make an impression on the world. But sometimes his images obscured the full narrative. While their lives appeared carefree, the teens often acted out because of their unstable homelives, poverty, or lack of education. This photograph is one of 348 that were gifted to Telfair Museums in 2018 and helped solidify the strength of the museum’s growing photography collection. Text written for Curators' Choice publication (Scala, 2020).

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