Primarily drawn from an anonymous gift to the Menil Collection of approximately 350 works by American photographer Bruce Davidson (b. 1933), the exhibition highlights his sustained engagement with social and political concerns. He is known for establishing personal relationships with his subjects, working over extended periods of time in diverse places and communities to create in-depth series that capture, what he has described as, “worlds in transition.” Examples include people in New York City’s Central Park (in the 1960s and early 1990s), the rigidly stratified class structure in postwar Britain (in the 1960s), and Time of Change, his critically acclaimed images of the American civil rights movement (from 1960 to 1965). Seeking a shared humanity, Davidson enters circumscribed worlds and offers an intimate perspective through his images of circus performers, Brooklyn gang members, Welsh miners, the neighborhoods of East Harlem, and Jewish cafeterias on the Lower East Side of New York City.
Collection Close-Up
Bruce Davidson’s Photographs
December 10, 2021 – May 29, 2022
The Menil Collection
1515 Sul Ross Houston, TX 77006
https://www.menil.org
Brooklyn Gang
Artist: Bruce Davidson
ca. 1960
Gelatin silver print
Place Created: United States, North America
Anonymous gift © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
Bruce Davidson, American, born 1933
Brooklyn Gang, 1959
Gelatin silver print
Image: 14 3/4 × 21 7/8 in. (37.5 × 55.6 cm)
Sheet: 19 7/8 × 23 7/8 in. (50.5 × 60.7 cm)
Anonymous gift © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
Central Park
Artist: Bruce Davidson
1960
Gelatin silver print
Place Created: United States, North America
Anonymous gift © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
Time of Change
Artist: Bruce Davidson
ca. 1965
Gelatin silver print
Image: 12 5/8 × 18 3/4 in. (32 × 47.6 cm)
Sheet: 16 × 19 7/8 in. (40.6 × 50.5 cm)
Place Created: United States, North America
Anonymous gift © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
