Bruce Gilden: Capturing the Raw Reality of Street Photography
A Look at the Bold and Controversial Work of an Acclaimed Photographer
Bruce Gilden is a photographer known for his bold and unapologetic approach to street photography.
His work captures the raw reality of everyday life, often focusing on people and places that others might overlook or ignore.
While some may find his style controversial, Gilden’s work is widely regarded as an important contribution to the field of street photography.
Early Life and Career
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946, Gilden developed an interest in photography at a young age. He attended Penn State University and later the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where he studied under legendary photographer and educator Lisette Model.
Gilden began his career as a freelance photographer in the 1970s, working for publications such as the New York Times and Newsweek.
In the 1980s, he began to focus more on his own personal projects, traveling to cities around the world to capture the vibrant street life he found there.
Style and Technique
Gilden’s style of street photography is often described as confrontational and even aggressive.
He is known for getting up close to his subjects, sometimes using a flash to create a stark and dramatic effect.
His images often capture people in unguarded moments, revealing a raw and sometimes uncomfortable reality.
Despite the potentially controversial nature of his work, Gilden has said that he is not trying to be provocative. Rather, he sees his role as capturing the truth of the world around him, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable that truth may be.
Impact and Recognition
Gilden’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, and he has published several books on his photography.
He has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013.
While some may criticize Gilden’s style as intrusive or exploitative, others argue that his work is an important commentary on contemporary society.
«My sense of beauty isn’t the typical sense of beauty. I’m interested in more real people: the girl with the weird look or the facelift, the one with dirt on the face.»
His images capture a raw and unfiltered reality that is often overlooked by mainstream media and conventional photography.
Bruce Gilden’s bold and unapologetic approach to street photography has earned him praise and criticism throughout his career.
His images capture the raw and often uncomfortable reality of everyday life, challenging viewers to confront the world around them in new ways.
While his style may not be for everyone, Gilden’s work serves as a reminder of the power of photography to capture the truth of the world around us, no matter how complex or uncomfortable that truth may be.
Could you name a few photographers or artists who most inspired you in your life and why them?
My dearest one was Ed van der Elsken whom I loved, he was a great guy.
The one who had the most influence on my style would be Lisette Model, a woman photographer. A friend of mine who died 20–30 years ago was a very good photographer although he didn’t become a photographer until his mid-forties. He was a graphic designer called Leon Levinstein. I like Shomei Tomatsu.
There are several others. I always enjoy looking at their pictures, all for different reasons. I think I took a lot from all of them.
The trick is to make all of that into you so you’re not looking like you’re doing the same thing that somebody did 20 years ago because I don’t respect that. Some people have mentors that they really like and then they don’t go further than the mentors. A lot of young people today don’t know the history of photography.
And by not knowing the history, they take these pictures that someone has done better 20 years ago. Also, there is a lot of documentary photography, a certain kind, that you could take the names away and you could replace them with a hundred other names. The only difference is the subject.
One might photograph majorettes, the other might photograph soldiers… I’m not into that. Even if it’s well done, it could be OK but it’s not what I aspire to do or be.
Question and answer from https://glltn.com/2016/03/bruce-gilden-interview/
Just think now, I’m 69 and yet I’m doing new work. How many photographers at 69 are doing new work? I’m not talking if you are using photography to create in a studio, I’m talking about going out there with people. You would be hard-pressed to find many people at 69 doing good work. That means I’m passionate about it and I compete with myself. Even if I had to stop shooting for three months because of a leg injury but now it’s healed. It’s tough to go out there now and sometimes I question myself. Because once I can’t do it, then I’ll stop. I wanted to do the Face project for 20 years, maybe 30 years, a long time ago. I had an idea to do it and then I found the right camera: the Leica S. But I don’t research, I’m not a researcher for equipment. So I found the right camera and that’s how this came about. For the last few years in New York, I was really bored and I needed to do something differently. I would go out but it was really an effort. I mean, it’s always an effort, but it was really an effort. You have to push yourself. The good photographs make it all worthwhile but who knows when you’re going to get a good photograph? I also should say that with the faces, it’s a lot easier to do good pictures than candid photography because when you combine a lot of stuff in the street, anything can go wrong. The stage set is set for you. In my pictures, people are walking. I’m a perfectionist so I couldn’t feel good about a picture unless it’s very good. Even with the faces, I’ve done those for about two and a half years and they got a lot stronger. I have some good ones from the beginning but as I went further, I saw how much more I could get out of it. It’s a learning process.
What do you think is the role of street photography in contemporary society, and how does Gilden’s work contribute to that role?
