East 100th Street [Paperback]

Bruce Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1970

For two years in the 1960s, Bruce Davidson photographed one block in East Harlem. He went back day after day, standing on sidewalks, knocking on doors, asking permission to photograph a face, a child, a room, a family. Through his skill, his extraordinary vision, and his deep respect for his subjects, Davidson's portrait of the people of East 100th Street is a powerful statement of the dignity and humanity that is in all people. Long out of print, this volume is a reissue of the classic book of photographs originally published in 1970 and recently included in The Book of 101 Books. This reprint includes over 20 new images not included in the original edition.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... groundbreaking ... -- Time Out New york --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Bruce Davidson is a major figure in modern photography who has created compelling documentary work for over 40 years. Born in 1933, he began taking photographs at the age of 10. After military service in 1957, he worked as a freelance photographer for Life magazine, and in 1958 he became a member of Magnum Photos. Davidson continued to photograph extensively from 1958 to 1965, creating such bodies of work as The Dwarf, Brooklyn Gang, Subway, East 100th Street, and The Civil Rights Movement. He received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1962 to document youth in the South during the civil rights movement, and in 1966 was awarded the first grant for photography from the National Endowment for the Arts. Davidson's work has been shown at many of the world's leading museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the International Center of Photography; the Walker Art Center; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; and the Parco Gallery, Tokyo. He continues to work as an editorial and documentary photographer, and his work appears regularly in publications all over the globe. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 132 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; First Edition edition (1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674224353
• ISBN-13: 978-0674224353
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,815,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional and unforgettable, April 13, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruce Davidson: East 100Th Street (Hardcover)

East 100th Street is a truly stunning, black-and-white photographic portrait of East 100th Street of Harlem. These stark, memorable images captured by Bruce Davidson show poverty, survival, individuals, children, and families -- some having fun, some withdrawn into themselves. "What you call a ghetto, I call my home", is an impressive quote spoken to the photographer, and East 100th Street showcases both sides of this remark in an exceptional and unforgettable manner.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Groundbreaking and Still Relevant Today, January 9, 2005

By 

No One Important (Cultural Ether) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruce Davidson: East 100Th Street (Hardcover)

In 1968, Bruce Davidson took his large-format 8x10 camera uptown to East 100th Street in East Harlem and set about recording the lives and the people of this poverty stricken block.

Davidson had spent much of the 1960s documenting the civil rights movement and the people on the fringes as well massive projects such as the building on the Verranzo bridge but in many ways East 100th Street was forever to define him as a photographer, and establish him as a great photographer.

By working with a large format camera, Davidson was saying to everyone that he was not interested in taking street photographs: fleeting images where the subjects might not even really know you are there. Instead an 8x10 camera (8x10 refers to the size of the negative -- 8" by 10") requires a tripod and considerable effort and time (minutes) just to focus the camera and take light measurements as well as considerable effort and conspicousness to just lug around. The result is rather formal pictures made with the subjects true consent.

And so the pictures are truly intimate portraits made with the collaboration of the people of East 100th street. They are truly a remarkable document.

Davidson takes you inside people's living rooms and bedrooms, into the back alleys and onto the rooftops. He shows you the dinner at the dinner table, and couples swaying to the music in a bar. You see the pictures of Jesus and JFK on their walls. And the family with the same clock on their wall that hung in my kitchen as I grew up.

You see the old man shivering in his bed, looking straight into the camera, an old tired dog under his bed also looking straight into the bed, the floor dirty, the walls bare except for tired old wallpaper. An unforgettable image. You will always remember the child bundled up in his coat, wool hat pulled down tight over his ears, standing by his mailboxes looking straight at you. There is Davidson's famous image of the young black couple smiling, happy, and dignified, cheek-to-check looking into the camera. There is the proud old black woman, sitting in her run-down apartment, drinking coffee, with a portrait of JFK staring at you.

They are Americans; they are Christians; they are black or hispanic or white; they are proud; they dress up nicely on Sundays to go to church; they love their children; they love each other; they drink; they go to the park and have bbq's on Sunday, and have the same pictures on their walls as do "us, other Americans". They are just like us, except they are poor and their skin maybe a different color.

And while this might not seem radical today, in 1968, this was extraordinary. Even though it is no longer a controversial sentiment, the photos are still powerful in terms of their intimacy, the scope of the lives they document, and, yes, the message they send.

It is a book that you will be proud to own, containing images you won't forget.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars correction, September 8, 2007

By 

D. Avila (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bruce Davidson: East 100Th Street (Hardcover)

Just a correction. Bruce Davidson made these photographs using a 4x5 camera. Not 8x10. Met the photographer tonight and that is what he said.