47th Street, New York
Bruce Davidson
American, born 1933
1963
A gelatin silver print that quietly records a well-dressed man seated in a phone booth on 47th Street, New York, as the photographer seeks to capture ordinary urban moments with documentary immediacy.
The image arrests you with its tight, mirrored framing—gleaming metal panels and a rotary pay phone enclosing a solitary figure whose dark glasses and still posture give the scene a cinematic, private-by-public quality.
Made during Davidson’s 1960s street work, this photograph exemplifies a turn toward candid social observation in documentary photography, showing how everyday gestures and urban environments reveal broader cultural rhythms.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
9 7/16 × 6 5/16" (23.9 × 16.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the artist
Accession
436.1966
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
