Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946. He attended Penn State University where he became bored studying sociology. In 1968, after seeing the Antonioni film Blow Up, he bought his first camera. Though he took some night courses in photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Gilden is basically a self-taught photographer.

As a child, Gilden spent hours at the window studying the street. His fascination for street life is what drove him to become a street photographer. Coney Island in New York and the Mardi Gras in New Orleans were among Gilden’s first photographic projects. At the time Gilden supported himself financially by driving a taxi. He has since photographed extensively around the world but most extensively in New York, Haiti, France, and Japan. Gilden began exhibiting his work as early as 1971 and since then has shown his work widely in museums and galleries all over the world. He has received numerous grants and awards for his work including three National Endowments for the Arts Fellowships (1980, 1982, and 1984), a villa MZ dicis Hors les Murs (1995), a New York State Foundation for the Arts Grant (1972 and 1992), and a Japan Foundation Fellowship (1999).In 1999 Gilden became a member of Magnum Photos.

His books include:
Facing New York (Cornerhouse Publications, England, 1992)
Bleus (Cahier #13, France, 1994)
Haiti (Dewi Lewis Publishing & Editions Marval, 1996)
Haiti: Dreams and Nightmares (Light Work, Syracuse, NY. 1997)
After the Off (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 1999)
Go (Munkendals, England, 2000)
Coney Island (Trebuk, England, 2002)

To see his work:
www.magnumphotos.com