From Library Journal
In 1959 Davidson read about the teenage gangs of New York City. Connecting with a social worker to make initial contact with a gang called the Jokers, Davidson became a daily observerAand photographerAof this alienated youth culture. The Fifties are often considered passive and pale by our standards of urban reality, but Davidson's photographs prove otherwise. In a recent New York Times article discussing this work, Davidson admitted he feared the erratic and often violent rules and routines of the Jokers. It is tempting to consider what this book might have been like had more of the detail of Brooklyn's 1950s white gang culture, as revealed in that Times article, been used to reinforce this spare volume. But this book gets to the point quickly, on its own terms. Nearly 70 sheet-fed gravure platesAimages of tough people, tough lives, tough lovers, all trying to be coolAare followed by just two pages of recollections by the photographer and a lengthier interview with Benjie, a surviving gang member, now a drug counselor. Recommended.ADavid Bryant, New Canaan P.L., CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
