One of my favorite photographers is Bruce Davidson. Here is a little story about how he shot the images for his iconic book The Brooklyn Gang.















These are really incredible images from Coney Island in the fifties.    (up there in my opinion with The Americans by Robert Frank published in 1958)     These images were taken by Bruce in the summer of 1959.     Published by Twim Palms in 1998.




The story was that Bruce was about 25 when he met a group of teenagers about 16 years old calling themselves the "jokers".  They were a gang.   At the time there were only about 1000 gang members in New York City.   (this would be a dream nowadays when u have closer to 400,000 active gang members) ahh the days of yesteryear.  so simple.


Bruce immersed himself into life around the gang, hanging out with them in Coney Island.  He photographed their fear, depression, anger and coming of age.    He is quoted as saying he really uncovered his own feelings of failure and frustration at this time.
  

Truly brilliant photographs.  A rare gem of a book if you can find it.   They say photography is about that decisive moment and frankly these images really do capture the zeitgeist of youth. Truly amazing they stand the test of time. Please check it out.

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