Bruce Davidson 1959, New York City, Coney Island, 1959.

Bruce Davidson, unlike other photographers before him, embedded himself in the world of his subjects for extended periods he even joined a circus in 1958 in order to get the right pictures the results of which formed themselves into series of powerful photo-essays. Brooklyn Gang' and East 100th Street' are perhaps his two most famous, and are the results of months and months living with both a gang of youths on Coney Island, and the inhabitants of a run-down tenement block in Harlem, New York. Through a combination of familiarity and his own visual poetry, Davidson brought these, and other subjects, to life in the many books and exhibitions that resulted from these projects. Opening in May 2011, an exhibition in London will focus on several of these key photo-essays, namely, The Circus, Brooklyn Gang, Civil Rights Movement, East 100th Street, England/Scotland/Wales - 1960, and Central Park. www.chrisbeetlesfinephotographs.com