Untitled
Bruce Davidson
American, born 1933
1959
This gelatin silver print captures a fleeting urban encounter—the photographer framing two anonymous pedestrians as they pass a roadside crucifix, using motion and shadow to heighten mood.
What strikes you is the vibrating blur and deep blacks: shadowed figures sweep past luminous, ghostlike statues and a crucifix, the composition collapsing background and foreground into a single unsettled moment.
Dating from 1959, the image exemplifies postwar American street photography’s move toward a close, empathetic, and subjective documentary style, using blur and contrast to reveal the psychological weight of ordinary city life.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
6 3/4 × 10" (17.1 × 25.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
239.1964
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
