Danny Lyon (born March 16, 1942) is an American
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
and filmmaker.
All of Lyon's publications work in the style of photographic
New Journalism
New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ...
,
meaning that the photographer has become immersed in with, and is a participant of, the documented subject. He is the founding member of the publishing group ''Bleak Beauty.''
After being accepted as the photographer for
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segreg ...
(SNCC), Lyon was present at almost all of the major historical events during the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
.
He has had solo exhibits at the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
, the
Art Institute of Chicago,
the
Menil Collection
The Menil Collection, located in Houston, Texas, refers either to a museum that houses the art collection of founders John de Menil and Dominique de Menil, or to the collection itself of approximately 17,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawi ...
, the
M. H. de Young Memorial Museum
( ; ; pl. ; ; 1512, from Middle French , literally "my lord") is an honorific title that was used to refer to or address the eldest living brother of the king in the French royal court. It has now become the customary French title of resp ...
in San Francisco and the Center for Creative Photography at the
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory.
Th ...
. Lyon twice received a
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 ...
; a Rockefeller Fellowship, Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism;
and a
Lucie Award.
Early life
Lyon was born in 1942 in Brooklyn, New York and is the son of Russian-Jewish mother Rebecca Henkin and German-Jewish father Dr. Ernst Fredrick Lyon. He was raised in Kew Gardens, Queens, and went on to study history and philosophy at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the be ...
, where he graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963.
Civil rights work
Lyon began his involvement in the
civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
when he hitch-hiked to Cairo, Illinois, during a summer break after his junior year at the University of Chicago. He was inspired by a speech
John Lewis
John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...
had given at a church on his first day in Cairo. After his speech Lewis left to go attend a sit-in, Lyon was impressed by this, Lewis was putting action behind his words. Lyon then decided to march to a nearby segregated swimming pool, the demonstrators knelt down to pray as the pool-goers heckled them. Soon a truck came, it went through the crowd in an attempt to break it up, a young black girl was hit by the truck and Lyon knew that he wanted to be a part of the movement.
For a time after this, in the 1960s, Lewis and Lyon were roommates.
In September 1962 with a $300 donation by
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internat ...
, SNCC flew Lyon to Jackson and the Mississippi Delta to cover voter registration workers. Shortly after, Lyon had a run-in with the police, one of whom threatened to kill him because when told they “didn’t mix the races down here”, Lyon claimed he had a Black grandfather. Lyon left town in order to keep all the pictures he had taken safe from being confiscated.
In 1963 Lyon returned, but the
SNCC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segreg ...
was reluctant to bring him aboard as their photographer. One job Lyon participated in was getting a picture of some high-school girls who were in prison at the
Leesburg Stockade without any charges against them. He hid in the back of a car while someone else drove him to the prison, and the young man who drove distracted the guards while Lyon snuck in the back to get the photo.
After being accepted as the photographer for SNCC, Lyon was present at almost all of the major historical events during the movement capturing the moments with his camera.
His pictures appeared in ''The Movement: documentary of a struggle for equality'', a documentary book about the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...
in the southern region of the United States.
Later work
Later, Lyon began creating his own books. His first, was a study of outlaw motorcyclists in the collection ''The Bikeriders'' (1968), where Lyon did more than just photograph motorcyclists in the
American Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
from 1963 to 1967. Additionally, he also became a member of the Chicago
Outlaws motorcycle club
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is an outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in McCook, Illinois in 1935. It is one of the largest outlaw motorcycle clubs in the world and histo ...
and traveled with them, sharing their lifestyle. According to Lyon himself, the photographs were "an attempt to record and glorify the life of the American bikerider." The series was immensely popular and influential in the 1960s and 1970s. By 1967 he was invited to join
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 "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eisne ...
. He never became a full member. During the 1970s, he also contributed to the
Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...
's
DOCUMERICA
Documerica (stylized as DOCUMERICA) was a program sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to "photographically document subjects of environmental concern" in the United States from about 1972 to 1977. The collection, now a ...
project.
In 1969, when Lyon returned from his work in Texas to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, and had no place to live, the photographer
Robert Frank
Robert Frank (November 9, 1924 – September 9, 2019) was a Swiss photographer and documentary filmmaker, who became an American binational. His most notable work, the 1958 book titled ''The Americans'', earned Frank comparisons to a modern-da ...
, famous by then for his 1958 book
''The Americans'', took him in. Lyon had met Frank two years earlier, at the end of a
Happening
A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events.
History
Origins
Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...
that Lyon was part of, in New York City. Lyon lived with the Frank family for six months in the city, in an apartment on West 86th St.
''The Destruction of Lower Manhattan'' (1969) was Lyon's next work, published by Macmillan Publishers in 1969. The book documents the large-scale demolition taking place throughout
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
in 1967. Included are photographs of soon to be demolished streets and buildings, portraits of the neighborhood's last remaining stragglers and pictures from within the demolition sites themselves. The book was eventually remaindered for one dollar each, but soon attained the status of a collector's item. It was reprinted in 2005.
''Conversations with the Dead'' (1971) was published with full cooperation of the Texas Department of Corrections. Lyon photographed in six prisons over a 14-month period in 1967-68. The series was printed in book form in 1971 by Holt publishing. The introduction points to a statement of purpose that the penal system of Texas is symbolic for
incarceration
Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...
everywhere. He states, "I tried with whatever power I had to make a picture of imprisonment as distressing as I knew it to be in reality."
Lyon befriended many of the prisoners. The book also includes texts taken from prison records, letters from convicts, and inmate artwork. In particular, the book focuses on the case of Billy McCune, a convicted rapist whose death sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison. In the foreword, Lyon describes McCune as a diagnosed
psychotic
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior t ...
, who one evening, while awaiting execution, "cut his penis off to the root and, placing it in a cup, passed it between the bars to the guard."
All of Lyon's publications work in the style of photographic
New Journalism
New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form non ...
,
meaning that the photographer has become immersed, and is a participant, of the documented subject.
He is the founding member of the publishing group ''Bleak Beauty.'' He was greatly encouraged in his photography by curator of the
Art Institute of Chicago Hugh Edwards, who gave Lyon two solo exhibits as a young man.
Also a filmmaker and writer, Lyon's films and videos include ''Los Niños Abandonados'', ''Born to Film'', ''Willie'', and ''Murderers''. He has published the non-fiction book ''Like A Thief's Dream''.
Publications
*''The Bikeriders.''
**London:
Macmillan, 1968.
**Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 1998. .
** New York City:
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An opti ...
, 2014. . Facsimile edition.
*''Conversations With The Dead.''
**New York City:
Henry Holt and Company
Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. Currently, the company publishes in the fields ...
, 1971. .
**''Conversations With The Dead: Photographs of Prison Life with the Letters and Drawings of Billy McCune #122054.'' . Digitally remastered facsimile edition with a new afterword by Lyon.
*''Pictures from the New World.'' New York City: Aperture, 1981.
*''I Like To Eat Right On The Dirt.'' Clintondale, NY: Bleak Beauty, 1989.
*''Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.''
**''Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.'' The Lyndhurst Series on the South. Center for Documentary Studies at
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jame ...
;
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, NC School o ...
, 1992. . Edited by Alex Harris.
**''Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.'' Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 2010. .
*''Indian Nations.'' Twin Palms, 2002.
*''The Destruction of Lower Manhattan.'' New York City:
PowerHouse, 2005.
*''Like A Thief's Dream.'' New York City: PowerHouse, 2007.
*''Memories of Myself''. London; New York City:
Phaidon, 2009.
*''Deep Sea Diver.'' London; New York City: Phaidon, 2011.
*''The Seventh Dog.'' London; New York City: Phaidon, 2014.
*''Burn Zone.'' Albuquerque, NM: Bleak Beauty. . With texts by Josephine Ferorelli.
Awards
*1969:
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
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and his long-time art advisor, artist Hilla von Rebay. The foundation is a leading institution for the collection, preserv ...
*1978: Guggenheim Fellowship from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
*1980s: Fellowship in Film making from the
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carne ...
*2011: Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism,
Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic com ...
,
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
, Columbia, MO
*2015:
Lucie Awards The Lucie Awards is an annual event honoring achievements in photography, founded in 2003 by Hossein Farmani.
The Lucie Awards is an annual gala ceremony presented by the Lucie Foundation (a 501 (c)3 non-profit charitable organization), honoring ...
, "Achievement in Documentary" category
*2022: Induction into the
International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum
The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Louis, Missouri honors those who have made great contributions to the field of photography.
History
In 1977 the first Hall of Fame and Museum opened in Santa Barbara, California and a f ...
.
See also
*
List of photographers of the civil rights movement
References
External links
*
The films of Danny Lyon on VimeoSNCC Digital Gateway: Danny Lyon Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and grassroots organizing from the inside-out
*
ttps://www.wsj.com/articles/danny-lyon-message-to-the-future-review-from-civil-rights-to-occupy-1469658064 "‘Danny Lyon: Message to the Future’ Review: From Civil Rights to Occupy" by Richard B. Woodward, ''The Wall Street Journal'', July 27, 2016
* An Interview with Filmmaker Danny Lyo
Part Ian
Part II Chicago Film Society, 2017
* , at the
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon, Danny
1942 births
Living people
Jewish American artists
American photojournalists
Motorcycling writers
University of Chicago alumni
People from Brooklyn
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of German-Jewish descent
Journalists from New York City
21st-century American Jews
People from New Mexico by occupation
Artists from New Mexico
20th-century American male artists