Contact SheetC

Bruce Gilden, Yakuza, 1998 – Exploration of the hidden world of the Japanese yakuza. Clothbound copy of Magnum Contact Sheets in presentation case, containing an individual contact sheet selected from a series of 10, in an edition of 50.

Bruce Gilden, born in 1946, lives in New York City and observes urban behaviors and customs, with a particular focus on strong characters and their individual peculiarities. He has said “I'm known for taking pictures very close, and the older I get, the closer I get. ” Gilden’s subjects have included the intimacy of bodies sprawled across the legendary New York beach of Coney Island (1986), people in New Orleans during its famous Mardi Gras festival and the people of Haiti. Gilden joined Magnum in 1998. He tackled a new approach to the streets of New York City, where he had been working since 1981, and his work culminated in the publication of ‘Facing New York’ (1992), and ‘A Beautiful Catastrophe’ (2005). Gilden has received numerous awards, including the European Award for Photography, three National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Japan Foundation fellowship.

Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative of great diversity and distinction founded in 1947 by four pioneering photographers: Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David Seymour. Today it is still owned by its photographer members, who with powerful individual vision, chronicle the world and interpret its peoples, events, issues and personalities.