Untitled (40092)

1959

Brooklyn Gang: Untitled (40092), 1959. Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933). Gelatin silver print; paper: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of an anonymous donor 2018.679 © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos The Jokers roughhoused and fought among themselves but were not allowed to hurt each other. Real violence was reserved for those in other gangs or occasionally for civilians. “Did we fight with chains and pipes and knives? Yeah,” gang member Bob Powers reminisced years later. “Did people get stabbed? Yeah, people got stabbed. And people got their heads cracked open with bats.” One of Davidson’s best-known series, Brooklyn Gang was inspired by a news story he read about a teenage gang called the Jokers.