15 West 47th Street, New York
Bruce Davidson
American, born 1933
1963
A gelatin silver street photograph that captures a brief, intense exchange between two women on a New York sidewalk, aiming to reveal the private, charged moments beneath city life.
You’re struck by the tight, cropped composition and high contrast—the back of one woman in translucent dark clothing fills the foreground while the other emerges from a shadowed doorway with a steady, searching gaze—making the meeting feel both intimate and fraught.
Made in 1963, this work exemplifies Davidson’s empathetic documentary approach, helping to expand street photography’s focus on small, revealing human encounters as a way to make social tensions and everyday complexity visible.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
9 1/2 × 6 5/16" (24.2 × 16.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the artist
Accession
435.1966
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
