Published by SKIRA, a curated selection of images retraces Bruce Gilden’s entire artistic journey, from his early black-and-white work to his recent colour photography.
A pioneer of street photography, and a full member of the Magnum Photos agency, Bruce Gilden (New York, 1946) is one of the undisputed protagonists of the international photography scene. His gaze penetrates the soul of the urban space and returns an immediate spectrum of situations, moods, and humanity, without filters or embellishments. While his early shots explore the city with a dynamic eye, among crowded sidewalks and hidden corners, his more recent work addresses issues such as vulnerability and marginalization, never succumbing to the aestheticization of pain. The photographer’s gaze rests on often invisible lives, producing striking images marked by a harsh, tragic, and deeply human beauty.
Gilden’s practice, defined by the photographer himself as in-your-face photography, is distinguished by a direct and radical language, able to capture the soul of his subjects and their relationship with their context.
Published on the occasion of the first monographic exhibition in Italy dedicated to the New York master of street photography, the book features a selection of approximately ninety images and centres on Faces (2013-2024), collecting portraits made as a figurative chronicle of cities around the world, from the United States to England, passing through Mexico, Greece, and Colombia. Alongside these, a series of black-and-white photographs of his beginnings (1968), taken in Japan (1996–1999), Haiti (1985–1995), Europe, but above all in his hometown, New York (1969–1995).
The book also features two new images inspired by the artworks by Raphael housed in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo (The Angel and Christ Blessing), through which Gilden reinterprets the concept of “grace” expressed by the great Renaissance master.
Denis Curti is the artistic director of the Stanze della fotografia. From 2005 to 2014, he directed Contrasto-Milano. For more than fifteen years, he was the photographic critic for Vivimilano and Corriere della Sera, and he currently runs Black Camera on the Rolling Stone Italia digital platform. With Skira he recently published Joel Meyerowitz. A Sense of Wonder. Photographs 1962-2022 (2024).
Bruce Gilden : A Closer Look
edited by Denis Curti
SKIRA
Size 24 × 28 cm (9½ × 11 in.)
dual-language edition (English-Italian)
192 pages
90 colour illustrations hardcover
ISBN 978-88-572-5522-4
£ 45.00, $ 55.00 € 42,00
https://www.skira-arte.com/
EXHIBITION
Brescia, Museo di Santa Giulia
Via dei Musei, 81 b
25121 Brescia BS, Italy
Until August 23, 2026
https://www.bresciamusei.com/
