Bruce Gilden (born 1946) is an American

street photographer Street photography (also sometimes called candid photography) is photography conducted for art or enquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within public places. Although there is a difference between street and ca ...

. He is best known for his candid close-up photographs of people on the streets of New York City, using a flashgun. He has had various books of his work published, has received the

European Publishers Award for Photography __NOTOC__ The European Publishers Award for Photography was run for 22 years by a number of European publishers, who simultaneously published a photobook of each year's winning portfolio in their own languages. The award was for work on a particu ...

and is a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

. Gilden has been a member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

since 1998. He was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Life and work

Gilden was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. While studying

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, he saw

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

's film ''

Blowup ''Blowup'' (sometimes styled as ''Blow-up'' or ''Blow Up'') is a 1966 mystery drama thriller film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and produced by Carlo Ponti. It was Antonioni's first entirely English-language film, and stars David Hemming ...

'' in 1968. Influenced by the film, he purchased his first camera and began taking night classes in

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

of New York. Fascinated with people on the street and the idea of visual spontaneity, Gilden turned to a career in photography. His work is characterized by his use of

flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid ...

photography. He has worked in black and white most of his life, but he began shooting in color and digital when he was introduced to the Leica S camera as part of Magnum's Postcards From America project. Gilden has been a member of

since 1998. His first major project was of people at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

. He has photographed people on the streets of New York,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

mobsters, homeless people, 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. He has also photographed rural

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

horseracing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

there, as well as

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

rituals in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Gilden is the subject of the documentary film ''Misery Loves Company: The Life and Death of Bruce Gilden'' (2007).

Reception

Gilden has described the way he photographs as “flash in one hand and jumping at people”.

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and arranger who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and ...

, reviewing Gilden's ''Face'' (2015) in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote that "his style seems to work against any intention to humanise his subjects." Contemporary American photographer

Joel Meyerowitz Joel Meyerowitz (born March 6, 1938) is an American street, portrait and landscape photographer. He began photographing in color in 1962 and was an early advocate of the use of color during a time when there was significant resistance to the id ...

has this to say about Gilden: “He’s a fucking bully. I despise the work, I despise the attitude, he’s an aggressive bully and all the pictures look alike because he only has one idea—‘I’m gonna embarrass you, I’m going to humiliate you.’ I’m sorry, but no.”

Publications

Publications by Gilden

*''The Small Haiti Portfolio (Limited Edition)'', Helsinki, Finland, 1990. *''Facing New York'', Manchester, UK:

Cornerhouse Cornerhouse was a centre for cinema and the contemporary visual arts, located next to Oxford Road Station on Oxford Street, Manchester, England, which was active from 1985–2015. It had three floors of art galleries, three cinemas, a booksho ...

Publications, 1992. . Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the

Chrysler Museum of Art The Chrysler Museum of Art is an art museum on the border between downtown and the Ghent district of Norfolk, Virginia. The museum was founded in 1933 as the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences. In 1971, automotive heir, Walter P. Chrysler Jr. ...

, Norfolk, VA. *''Bleus'', Mission Photographique Transmanche (Cross Channel Photographic Mission) no. 13. Douchy-les-Mines, France: Centre Régional de la Photographie (CRP) (Regional Centre for Photography), Nord Pas-de-Calais, 1994. *''Haïti, Dreams and Nightmares''. Stockport, UK:

Dewi Lewis Dewi Lewis (born 10 March 1951) is a Welsh publisher and curator of photography. Career In 1975, Lewis was the founding director of the Bury Metropolitan Arts Association which operates the Met. Lewis also founded and was the first director of ...

and Paris: Marval, 1997. *''After the Off''. Stockport, UK: Dewi Lewis, 1999. . Photographs by Gilden, short story by

Dermot Healy Dermot Healy (9 November 1947 – 29 June 2014) was an Irish novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer. A member of Aosdána, Healy was also part of its governing body, the Toscaireacht. Born in Finea, County Westmeath, he lived in ...

. *''Ciganos''. Lisbon, Portugal: Centro Portuguès de Fotografia, 1999. *''Haiti''. Stockport, UK: Dewi Lewis and Paris: Marval, 1999. . *''Go''. London: Trebruk and New York:

, 2000. . *''Coney Island''. London: Trebruk, 2002. . *''A Beautiful Catastrophe''. Brooklyn, NY: Powerhouse, 2005. . *''Fashion Magazine.'' Paris: Magnum Photos, 2006. . With text contributions by

Hedi Slimane Hedi Slimane (; born July 5, 1968) is a French photographer and grand couturier. From 2000 to 2007, he held the position of creative director for Dior Homme (the menswear line of Christian Dior S.A., Christian Dior). From 2012 to 2016, he was the ...

Viktor & Rolf Viktor & Rolf is a Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion house founded in 1993 by Viktor Horsting (born 1969, Geldrop) and Rolf Snoeren (born 1969, Dongen). For more than twenty years, Viktor & Rolf have sought to challenge preconceptions of fashion an ...

, Azzedine Alaïa,

Ingrid Sischy Ingrid Barbara Sischy () (March 2, 1952 – July 24, 2015) was a South African-born American writer and editor who specialized in covering art, photography, and fashion. She rose to prominence as the editor of ''Artforum'' from 1979 to 1988, and ...

Bob Colacello Bob Colacello (born 1947) is an American writer. Born in Bensonhurst, New York, and raised in Plainview, Long Island, he graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1969, and also has an MFA degree in f ...

and

Francesco Vezzoli Francesco Vezzoli (born 1971) is an Italian artist and filmmaker. Work Vezzoli studied at the Central Saint Martins School of Art in London from 1992 to 1995. In his early works from 1994 to 1996, he reenvisioned twentieth-century masterpieces by ...

. In English and French. *''Bruce Gilden''. Stern Portfolio No.64. Krefeld, Germany: teNeues, 2011. . *''Foreclosures''. London: Browns, 2013. . Available in standard edition (edition of 400) and slipcase edition (edition of 100). *''A Complete Examination of Middlesex''. 2013. London: Archive of Modern Conflict. . *''Bruce Gilden''. Photofile series. London:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 2014. . *''Bruce Gilden.'' Photo Poche series. Arles, France: Actes Sud, 2014. . Preface by Hans-Michael Koetzle. French-language version. *''Moscow Terminus.'' New York: Dashwood Books, 2014. Edition of 1000 copies. *''Face.'' Stockport, UK: Dewi Lewis, 2015. . With a text by

Chris Klatell Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian (given name), Christian, Christina (given name), Christina, Christine (name), Christine, and Christos (given name), Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, ...

. *''Hey Mister, Throw me Some Beads!.'' Heidelberg, Germany: Kehrer, 2015. . *''Un Nouveau Regard Sur La Mobilité Urbaine.'' Paris: La Martinière and RATP, 2015. . *''Syracuse, 1981.'' Tokyo: Super Labo, 2018. Edition of 1000 copies. *''Only God Can Judge Me.'' London: Browns, 2018. . Edition of 700 copies. *''Palermo Gilden.'' Palermo, Sicily: 89books, 2020. Edition of 89 copies. . *''Black Country.'' Setanta, 2022.

Publications with contributions by Gilden

*''Magnum Stories.'' London: Phaidon, 2004. . Edited by

Chris Boot Chris Boot (born 27 May 1960) is a British photography curator, book publisher, and has worked in a variety of other roles related to photography. He was director of London’s Photo Co-op, director of the London and New York offices of Magnum Pho ...

. *''Mirror Mirror: Portugal as seen by Magnum Photographers.'' Göttingen:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerha ...

, 2005. . Photographs by

Bruno Barbey Bruno Barbey (13 February 1941 – 9 November 2020) was a Moroccan-born French photographer. Throughout his four-decade career he traveled across five continents, photographing many wars. Life and work Barbey was born in Morocco. His father was ...

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

Thomas Hoepker Thomas Hoepker (German: ''Thomas Höpker''; born 10 June 1936) is a German photographer and member of Magnum Photos. He is known for stylish color photo features. He also documented the 9/11 World Trade Center destruction. Hoepker originally made ...

Jean Gaumy Jean Gaumy (born 1948) is a French photographer and filmmaker who has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1977 who has specialised in depictions of isolated or confined communities and groups. Early life and education Jean Gaumy was born on ...

, Gilden,

Josef Koudelka Josef Koudelka (born 10 January 1938) is a Czech-French photographer. He is a member of Magnum Photos and has won awards such as the Prix Nadar (1978), a Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1989), a Grand Prix Henri Cartier-Bresson (1991), ...

Guy Le Querrec Guy Le Querrec (born 1941 in Paris, France) is a French photographer and filmmaker, noted for his documentary images of jazz musicians. He is a member of Magnum Photos. Career Le Querrec took his first photographs as a teenager using a basic Fex ...

Susan Meiselas Susan Meiselas (born June 21, 1948) is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for h ...

Inge Morath Ingeborg Hermine Morath (; 27 May 1923 – 30 January 2002) was an Austrian photographer. In 1953, she joined the Magnum Photos Agency, founded by top photographers in Paris, and became a full photographer with the agency in 1955. Morath was the ...

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

Gilles Peress Gilles Peress (born December 29, 1946) is a French photographer and a member of Magnum Photos. Peress began working with photography in 1970, having previously studied political science and philosophy in Paris. One of Peress' first projects exa ...

Gueorgui Pinkhassov Gueorgui Pinkhassov is a photographer, born in Moscow in 1953. He is a member of Magnum Photos. Life and work Pinkhassov began his interest in photography in his teens, and enrolled at the Moscow Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in 1969. Fo ...

and Miguel Rio Branco. *''Coney Island.'' Paris: Trans Photographic, 2009. . Photographs by Johnny Miller and Baptiste Lignel. Text by Sophie Gilden and Bruce Gilden. *''

Street Photography Now ''Street Photography Now'' is a survey book of contemporary street photography, edited by Sophie Howarth and Stephen McLaren and published by Thames & Hudson in 2010. It includes work by 56 photographers. Blake Andrews described the book as "th ...

.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2010. . Edited by Sophie Howarth and

Stephen McLaren Stephen McLaren is a Scottish photographer, writer, and curator, based in Los Angeles. He has edited various photography books published by Thames & Hudson—including '' Street Photography Now'' (2010)—and produced his own, ''The Crash'' (2018) ...

. *''Magnum Contact Sheets.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. . *''Magnum Contact Sheets.'' Edited by Kristen Lubben. **''Magnum Contact Sheets.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. . **''Magnum Contact Sheets.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. . Compact edition. **''Magnum Contact Sheets: The Collector's Edition: Bruce Gilden, Yakuza, 1998.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2011. .

Awards

* 1979: Artist's Fellowship,

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

, New York. * 1980: Photographer's Fellowship,

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

.Bruce Gilden Press Packet
", Bruce Silversteine. Accessed 1 September 2014. * 1984: Photographer's Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts. * 1984: Artist's Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York. * 1992: Photographer's Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts. * 1992: Artist's Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York.NYFA New York Foundation for the Arts: Directory of Artists’ Fellows 1985-2013
,

. Accessed 1 September 2014. *1995: Villa Medicis Hors les Murs (an artist's fellowship), from

Institut Français The Institut Français (French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for promoting French, francophone as ...

. * 1996:

for ''Haiti''.Sibylle Fischer, "Haiti: Fantasies of bare life", ''Small Axe'' no 23 (vol. 11 no 2), June 2007, pp. 1–15 (see particularly pp. 1–9–12). PDF availabl
here
, Center for Humanities, City University of New York. Accessed 10 May 2014. * 1999: Artist's Fellowship, from the

Japan Foundation The was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture, and became an Independent Administrative Institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry o ...

, for ''Tokyo Extremes''. * 2000: Artist's Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York. * 2013:

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

Collections

Gilden's work is held in the following collections: *

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography The is an art museum concentrating on photography. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum al ...

, Tokyo, Japan. *

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London.

References

External links

*
Gilden profile at Magnum Photos
* (video) * (video)
National Public Radio interview with Gilden
(audio) *
"In Your Face: An Interview with Bruce Gilden"
, ''GUP Magazine,'' 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilden, Bruce 1946 births Living people American photographers Magnum photographers Photography in Ireland Photography in Japan Street photographers