Bruce Davidson: Subway - Hardcover

Ollman, Arthur

4.61

166 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 097136818X ISBN 13: 9780971368187

Publisher: St. Ann's Press, 2004

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Since ground was first broken, New York City's subway system has been the stuff of living legend--and a source of inspiration and fear. This dark, democratic environment provided the setting for photographer Bruce Davidson's first extensive series in color, originally published in 1986. In it, subway riders are set against a gritty, graffiti-strewn background, displayed in tones Davidson described as "an iridescence like what I had seen in photographs of deep-sea fish." Never before had the subway been portrayed in such detail, revealing the interplay of its inner landscape and outer vistas. The images include lovers, commuters, tourists, families, and the homeless. From weary strap hangers to languorous ladies in summer dresses to stalking predators, Davidson's compassionate vision illuminates the stubborn survival of humanity. From the spring of 1980 to 1985, Davidson explored and shot 600 miles of subway tracks. In his own words, he "wanted to transform this subway from its dark, degrading, and impersonal reality into images that open up our experience again to the color, sensuality, and vitality of the individual souls that ride it each day." Now nearly 25 years later, and on the eve of the subway's 100th anniversary, St. Ann's Press is publishing a new edition of Davidson's classic book. This edition adds 43 unseen images to the original book, and includes an introduction by Arthur Ollman of the Museum of Photographic Art in San Diego, and a foreword by Fred Braithwaite (aka Fab Five Freddy), the original graffiti artist. It also includes Bruce Davidson and Henry Geldzahler's original essays.

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About the Author:

Bruce Davidson is an award-winning photographer whose career spans nearly sixty years. He became a member of Magnum Photos in 1958, and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1962, grants from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1967 and 1980, the Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Photography in 2004, and a Gold Medal of Honor Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Arts Club in 2007. His work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; and Aperture Foundation, New York.

Review:

Subway is Davidson's visceral take on the New York underground system of the 1980s complete with beleagured passengers, Guardian Angels, graffiti and a palpable, all-pervasive sense of fear. A glimpse of a New York that is already long gone. –The Guardian
Here, the enclosed world of the subway is a metaphor for New York itself, in all its frantic hustle and bustle—its violence, its humanity and its hope. –The Guardian
Bruce Davidson’s Subway... has become iconic for its juxtaposition of humanity against urban machinery. –Artinfo
The brilliant flash, combined with fluorescent lighting, intense colors and Davidson's probing vision, produced images that are dramatic and at times surreal. –Photo District News
Essentially, Davidson’s images manage to hark back to a forgotten New York City, while simultaneously tapping into a contemporary sense of why New York, with all is attitudes, is still seen to be one of the globe’s most vibrant and happening urban cities. –Wings
...Davidson was able to capture an ominous, hautingly poetic, and emotional atmosphere. – Juxtapoz

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