Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933). Child at Window, East 100th Street, 1966. Gelatin silver print, pr...

Description

Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933)
Child at Window, East 100th Street, 1966
Gelatin silver print, printed later
9 x 7-1/2 inches (22.9 x 19.1 cm)
10 x 8 inches (sheet)
Davidson/Magnum Photos copyright credit stamp and negative notation 66-46-330/10 in ink on affixed labels, verso.

LITERATURE:
B. Davidson, East 100th Street, St. Anne's Press, Los Angeles, 2003, np.

"People called it the "worst" block in the city...I stood there next to the camera holding the shutter release. I looked into the eyes of the people. They stood still and silent, went into themselves in their repose. The street was a place I would go each day to see the invisible...Sometimes I had to force myself to go to the block because I was afraid to break the painful barrier of their poverty. But once I was there and made contact with someone and felt connected, I never wanted to leave. Women called me from their windows and children said "Hi, picture man." Every day I appeared with my large bellows camera, heavy tripod and box of pictures. Like the TV repairman or organ grinder, I appeared and became part of street life."
BRUCE DAVIDSON

Davidson returned regularly to this beleaguered East Harlem block for nearly two years (always bringing prints for the people he photographed,) until he and his bulky view camera became a fixture on the scene. The resulting photographs pull no punches, revealing both the gloom and dilapidation of the apartments, storefronts, and rubble-strewn vacant lots of this hellish environment, while also recording the extraordinary dignity and resilience of many of its inhabitants.


Estimate: $1,500 - $2,000.

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