Bruce Gilden (born 1946) is a noted
street photographer, known for his work in
New York City.
While studying
sociology at
Penn State, he saw
Michelangelo Antonioni's film
Blowup in 1968. Influenced by the film, he purchased his first camera and began taking night classes in
photography at the
School of Visual Arts of New York. Fascinated with normal people on the street and the idea of visual spontaneity, Gilden turned to a career in photography.
[1] He routinely uses a
flash, alerting his subjects to his presence, unlike most street photographers. His first major project was documenting the sensuality of the bodies of the people at
Coney Island.
[2]
A member of
Magnum Photos since 1998, he shot images of
Japan's
Yakuza mobsters, the homeless, 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.
[3] Gilden is also the subject of
Misery Loves Company: The Life and Death of Bruce Gilden, a documentary produced in 2007.
[4] He has also photographed rural
Ireland and
horseracing there, as well as
voodoo rituals in
Haiti.
