Untitled (50573)

1959

Brooklyn Gang: Untitled (50573), 1959. Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933). Gelatin silver print; paper: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of an anonymous donor 2018.694 © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos The museum owns several groups of images from the series taken during the same shoot at Coney Island. They provide a rare glimpse of the artist’s selection process (see 2018.688, 2018.696, 2018.697, 2018.701, 2018.706, and 2018.735). The size of these prints, and the fact that the artist printed them long after they were shot, suggest he considered all four images worthwhile. In an exhibition print, the white marks on the woman's cheek here, made by dust on the negative, would have been covered up with ink or dye, a process known as spotting. This may be a work print, made to aid in decisions on exactly how to print this picture. It has become one of the better-known images from Brooklyn Gang. One of Davidson’s best-known series, Brooklyn Gang was inspired by a news story about a teenage gang known as the Jokers.