Bruce Davidson on Shooting in the NYC Subways

[Damaso]

A very interesting essay...

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog...y-photographs/



"As I went down the subway stairs, through the turnstile, and onto the darkened station platform, a sinking sense of fear gripped me. I grew alert, and looked around to see who might be standing by, waiting to attack. The subway was dangerous at any time of the day or night, and everyone who rode it knew this and was on guard at all times; a day didn’t go by without the newspapers reporting yet another hideous subway crime. Passengers on the platform looked at me, with my expensive camera around my neck, in a way that made me feel like a tourist—or a deranged person."

[Bob Michaels]

An excellent read. Thanks. I am happy to see this work has been republished since I do not own a copy.

[jsrockit]

Thanks Damaso.

[Calzone]

In the mid seventies NYC almost went bankrupt, entire blocks of empty/abandoned buildings in the South Bronx were left to burn by the NYFD, there were about 2000 murders a year, and films like "Death Wish" and "Taxi Driver" defined an era. It was basically a lawless free for all in the seventies and the eighties was just an extention of the seventies in a way.

As far as being either brave or foolish Bruce Davidson's work documenting poverty on East 100th Street is rather profound which he did in 1969.

Also there was a great amount of risk he took during the Civil Rights Movement.

At a recent duscussion I went to at Milk Studios BD showed a slide from the subway series that showed one man holding a gun to another mans head like he was going to exicute him. BD explained that he was used as a mark/decoy by two NYPD detectives and the guy with the gun to his head was a perp who was going to attack him for his Leicas. BTW this shot is a very tight close up.

Cal

[Vobluda]

"Waaaaariors, come out to plaaaay"

Originally Posted by Calzone

In the mid seventies NYC almost went bankrupt, entire blocks of empty/abandoned buildings in the South Bronx were left to burn by the NYFD, there were about 2000 murders a year, and films like "Death Wish" and "Taxi Driver" defined an era. It was basically a lawless free for all in the seventies and the eighties was just an extention of the seventies in a way.

As far as being either brave or foolish Bruce Davidson's work documenting poverty on East 100th Street is rather profound which he did in 1969.

Also there was a great amount of risk he took during the Civil Rights Movement.

At a recent duscussion I went to at Milk Studios BD showed a slide from the subway series that showed one man holding a gun to another mans head like he was going to exicute him. BD explained that he was used as a mark/decoy by two NYPD detectives and the guy with the gun to his head was a perp who was going to attack him for his Leicas. BTW this shot is a very tight close up.

Cal

[Benjamin Marks]

The myth of this danger was always more impressive than the reality. I was a child in NYC during those years and commuted to school on subways and buses all the time. There was an urban grittiness that you can see as the background for many movies of the era:
"The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3," "Midnight Cowboy," "The Warriors," (mentioned above etc.). But each day the transportation system of that city took 4 million passengers where they needed to get and back home again, mostly without incident. I have no doubt that Davidson really felt the sense of threat he reports. Whether it was grounded in reality is another matter.

Ben Marks

P.S. Large metropolitan urban areas are always in a constant state of creation and destruction. I think a time-lapse photo of NYC covering years would look like a boiling pot. However, there was no idealized past for New York where all was peaches and cream. Before there was the South Bronx, there was Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. Now Hell's Kitchen is a fully recovered neighborhood. The Lower East Side used to be a slum where the city's newest immigrants began their lives in America. Now it is a hipster's paradise. 42nd Street was the city's red light district. Now it has been Disney-fied and not few New Yorkers have a sense of nostalgia for a time when there was a sense of grit and peril to that area. When I was a kid, I would play night soccer with friends in Central Park, which had the reputation at the time as a place not to go after dark. That said, you could find trouble if you were looking for it. So take Davidson's tales of danger with a grain of salt.

[Calzone]

NYC today is probably the safest city in the world.

BTW back in the late seventies I was a NYC cab driver who worked nights. Being a cab driver at that time was considered more dangerous than being a cop or fireman in NYC.

Another film that captured the lawlessness of that time is "Fort Apache The Bronx."

Cal

[Calzone]

Originally Posted by Benjamin Marks

The myth of this danger was always more impressive than the reality. I was a child in NYC during those years and commuted to school on subways and buses all the time. There was an urban grittiness that you can see as the background for many movies of the era:
"The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3," "Midnight Cowboy," "The Warriors," (mentioned above etc.). But each day the transportation system of that city took 4 million passengers where they needed to get and back home again, mostly without incident. I have no doubt that Davidson really felt the sense of threat he reports. Whether it was grounded in reality is another matter.

Ben Marks

When I was a cab driver (1979) there were only two attemps to rob me over the one summer I hacked.

One time I ripped a pole out of the ground to basically make my passenger pay me on some road to hell near Yonkers. It was the perfect place for a crime scene. My fare tried to stiff me for the over twenty dollar fare. I held the pole cocked and ready to swing. "Do you wanna pay me, or do you want a beating. Your choice."

Another time I picked up a fare on Second Avenue and this guy says, "Take me to the Bronx." It was very late and it became very clear to me that this guy was out to rob me. I started heading uptown on First Avenue and was getting ready to get on the FDR Drive north, when the guy asks me, "What are you doing?"

When I told him I was taking him to the Bronx, and I was going to get on the FDR Drive, he said, "Pull over and let me out." At this point there was $2.25 on the meter. But because I was an angry artist in self destruct mode who had a death wish, it did not matter if you were going to rob all my money or $2.25, it would be a violent fight.

When the guy opened the door I said, "you owe me $2.25." He gave me $3.00 and said. "Keep the change." Before slamming the door he also said, "I was going to rob you, but you seemed too cool."

I assure you the violence, the drugs and the crime was real. Perhaps because I grew up in the Vietnam era this living without a futre is hard to understand.

Cal

[Calzone]

Originally Posted by photomoof

Well that too -- but gezz it was fun living here then! It felt like paradise, all the stockbrokers and businesses abandoned lower manhattan to the artists. Everything was SO cheap, studios were huge, there was lots of part time work, and possibilities were around every corner.

Taxi driver -- meh! Mudd club, Fashion Moda, 112 Green Street, Food, Max's, The Kitchen...



****
For the record 1991@2154 the highest - 2010-534 -- 1975-1645, always about 500, from 1920's. 1995@1177 was the last year over 1000, 1969@1043 the first during the post war era.

Fred,

Thanks for the correction.

Also remember when you could rent a 2000 square foot loft in SoHo that was raw space without "fixtures" for $200.00 a month.

Cal

[Benjamin Marks]

Originally Posted by Calzone

I assure you the violence, the drugs and the crime was real. Perhaps because I grew up in the Vietnam era this living without a futre is hard to understand.
Cal

Sounds like you have quite a few tales to tell! I was not trying to say that there was no crime, only that Davidson's self portrayal as an intrepid explorer in the subways might have a hint of self-aggrandizement to it.

Ben Marks

[Haigh]

A terrific read. Thanks for posting it.

[back alley]

i left new york in 1972...sounds like i missed all the 'fun'!

[gdmcclintock]

You may want to see Lisa Kahane's book about the South Bronx.

[dmr]

Excellent article!

I've followed him for years, but until now missed the part where he got mugged.

[dmr]

Originally Posted by back alley

i left new york in 1972...sounds like i missed all the 'fun'!

I left shortly after. NYC was right out of one of those downer dystopian films back then and the deteriorating quality of life was one of the reasons I got out.

[Pablito]

Originally Posted by gdmcclintock

You may want to see Lisa Kahane's book about the South Bronx.

Well, Lisa is no Bruce Davidson.
Or you might say Bruce Davidson is no Lisa Kahane!

[kbg32]

Originally Posted by Calzone

NYC today is probably the safest city in the world.

BTW back in the late seventies I was a NYC cab driver who worked nights. Being a cab driver at that time was considered more dangerous than being a cop or fireman in NYC.

Another film that captured the lawlessness of that time is "Fort Apache The Bronx."

Cal

Cal, I hate to say, but that film was stupid from what I remember. It just elevated half truths, based on nothing in reality. Being a cab driver was a much more dangerous profession back then.

I used to see Davidson on the subway all the time. He had a bodyguard with him because he didn't want to get attacked from behind while he was photographing.

That era was interesting for sure. I lived across the street from the old unrenovated Thompkins Square Park and would sit in my kitchen and hear the occasional gunshot. Stuff was happening on the street all the time. The city was less crowded back then and much more exciting in its grittiness.

[Jamie123]

Originally Posted by Damaso

A very interesting essay...

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog...y-photographs/

The first comment on that page is hilarious. It's got somebody from India saying he/she went to NYC in 2001 and didn't find the subway scary at all.

[Calzone]

Originally Posted by kbg32

Cal, I hate to say, but that film was stupid from what I remember. It just elevated half truths, based on nothing in reality. Being a cab driver was a much more dangerous profession back then.

That era was interesting for sure. I lived across the street from the old unrenovated Thompkins Square Park and would sit in my kitchen and hear the occasional gunshot. Stuff was happening on the street all the time. The city was less crowded back then and much more exciting in its grittiness.

Accually I don't remember much about the film anymore, not like Taxi Driver or Death Wish which both kinda influenced me. I was a crazy angry guy back then.

I remember the LES before it was "conquered by yuppies and hipsters. Mucho drugs and a place where you could easily get your butt kicked in especially in the eighties. Artists were not welcomed because of the gentrification.

Cal

[gdmcclintock]

I found Davidson's Subway book disappointing, too slick, contrived and commercial, like the filter he used to remove the sickly subway light, portraits of characters not people.

Kehane's book is an honest portrayal of a city in crisis.

[kbg32]

Originally Posted by Calzone

Accually I don't remember much about the film anymore, not like Taxi Driver or Death Wish which both kinda influenced me. I was a crazy angry guy back then.

I remember the LES before it was "conquered by yuppies and hipsters. Mucho drugs and a place where you could easily get your butt kicked in especially in the eighties. Artists were not welcomed because of the gentrification.

Cal

Yup. The East Village didn't exist then. Anything below 14th Street and east of 1st Avenue was LES. Avenue C wasn't called "Loisaida Avenue" for nothing!

[jsrockit]

Originally Posted by gdmcclintock

I found Davidson's Subway book disappointing, too slick, contrived and commercial, like the filter he used to remove the sickly subway light, portraits of characters not people.

Care to explain how the book is too contrived and commercial? I think the aesthetic was the complete opposite of what was considered commercial at the time. Also, isn't thinking of the people as charecters instead of as people just your take on the book based on your experience in life? I mean, the book, dumbed down to its simplist form, is simply about the people who ride the subway at the time. I ride the subway every day (as you may as well) and you see all types of people (and yes, some are charecters). I think his book did ok to show this. It's hard to get to know people from chance encounters on a subway.

And I believe the flash had more to do with removing the flouresent subway light than a filter, but I could be wrong.

[Damaso]

Glad people enjoyed the read. Even more happy people are having fun talking about the good old bad days in NYC!

[Calzone]

In the eighties I weighed about 135 pounds and at 5'10" I looked very much like a drug addict, specifically a speed freak.

In the LES I would get asked if I wanted to buy drugs constantly just walking along, but when I said, "No thanks," I'd get a real hostile look because all of the sudden my identity changed because I shifted from drug addict to a no good artist in their minds. Seemed to happen on every corner.

Cal

[gdmcclintock]

Of course my opinion of Davidson's Subway is based on my experience, that is to say, subjective. Commercial because the subjects are subtracted from their environment (by the flash?) and presented as characters, much like models in a fashion shoot, dumbed down stereotypes for mass consumption.

Somewhere in the book Davidson talks about the filter he used.

Originally Posted by jsrockit

Care to explain how the book is too contrived and commercial? I think the aesthetic was the complete opposite of what was considered commercial at the time. Also, isn't thinking of the people as charecters instead of as people just your take on the book based on your experience in life? I mean, the book, dumbed down to its simplist form, is simply about the people who ride the subway at the time. I ride the subway every day (as you may as well) and you see all types of people (and yes, some are charecters). I think his book did ok to show this. It's hard to get to know people from chance encounters on a subway.

And I believe the flash had more to do with removing the flouresent subway light than a filter, but I could be wrong.