Written by Abigail Humphries Thursday, 10 March 2011 20:54

Bruce Davidson Receives Prestgious Sony Award &  Featured In Two Exhibitions

London (BBC).- Bruce Davidson is to receive the outstanding contribution prize at this year's Sony World Photography Awards. The 77-year-old American's work has included following a Brooklyn gang in the 1950s and chronicling the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. He will get the award at a 27 April ceremony in London, with an exhibition of his work opening a day earlier at London's Somerset House (where it will run until to 22 May). Tate photography curator Simon Baker hailed Davidson as "one of the foremost photographers living today". Mr Baker, who selected works for the exhibition along with Davidson, said his work showed "the rare combination of absolute commitment to his subjects and a sophisticated visual sensibility".

Bruce Davidson began taking photographs at the age of ten in Oak Park, Illinois. He continued to further his knowledge through attendance at Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University.  He was later drafted into the army and stationed near Paris. There he met Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the founders of the renowned cooperative photography agency, Magnum Photos. When he left military service in 1957, Davidson worked as a freelance photographer for LIFE magazine and in 1958 became a full member of Magnum Photos, with whom he is still affiliated.

New York City, the focus of the Levi's Photo Workshop, is featured in many of his acclaimed series, including “Brooklyn Gangs,” “East 100th Street,” “Subway,” and ‘Central Park.” Classic bodies of work from his 50-year career have been published in over fifteen monographs, three of which were published by Aperture, and are included in many major public and private fine art collections around the world.  He continues to photograph and produce new bodies of work, and has just released a three-volume retrospective, Outside/Inside (Steidl 2010).

Bruce Davidson's work will feature, along with other photographers in "The World Photography Festival" between 26th April and 1st May 2011 at London's Somerset House. The full programme will feature an eclectic mix of events, talks, seminars, workshops and an exhibition of the winning images from the 2011 Sony World Photography Awards. This will be the first World Photography Festival to be held in London.

Starting on 4th May, Chris Beetle Fine Photographs will focus on several of Bruce Davidson's key photo-essays, namely, The Circus, Brooklyn Gang, Civil Rights Movement, East 100th Street, England/Scotland/Wales - 1960, and Central Park. The exhibition will run until 28 May.

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