The 2018 Leica Hall of Fame Award

Davidson has an unerring eye: critical, sensitive, empathetic and always respectful towards those he portrays. Born in 1933, his seven-decade oeuvre represents a most important photographic witness of life in the USA. Whether Brooklyn Gang, East 100th Street, Subway, his documentation of the civil rights movement, or the story of a dwarf circus clown, many of his series have entered the canons of the most significant reportages and reviews of everyday life in the USA.

The photographer’s ability to be accepted by those he portrays is always in evidence; it is only once an understanding has been reached that the immediacy of the images can be achieved, without the photographer himself being relevant or a visible factor in the motif. This mixture of proximity and distance, curiosity and nonchalance, documentation and a very personal perspective and involvement as an essential part of the imagery, ensures that viewers remain captivated even today.

From June 15 to September 9, 2018, Bruce Davidson is being honoured with a very large exhibition at the Leica Gallery Wetzlar. For further information visit: Leica Camera