Untitled (45469)

1959

Brooklyn Gang: Untitled (45469), 1959. Bruce Davidson (American, b. 1933). Gelatin silver print; paper: 76.2 x 101.6 cm (30 x 40 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of an anonymous donor 2018.698 © Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos Davidson contacted the Jokers, one of Brooklyn’s roughest gangs, through their social worker. In the summer of 1959, Davidson roamed the streets of New York with these teens, loitered in stores that the Jokers called their own, and sunbathed with them on the beach at Coney Island. Eventually they allowed him to photograph even their most intimate, private moments. He responded by producing unflinchingly honest images of these American youths. One of Davidson’s best-known series, Brooklyn Gang, was inspired by a news story he read about a gang feud.