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Workshop History:
| MATERIALS
NEEDED: 35mm camera, electronic flash, film, portfolio of students work.
ASSIGNMENT:
Shoot film in a familiar area, somewhere you are
"comfortable" working in, AND film in a different, or
"new" situation.
DO
NOT bring contact sheets to the workshop - work prints preferred (small
size OK, approximately 8"X10" or larger).
BRUCE
GILDEN brings to the workshop his unique style of 'street' photography,
which has truly become his own over the past 20+ years of working in New
York City and other urban areas, both in the US and abroad. |
 This
extract from a review of Bruce's book "Off the Track" seems to
summarize his general way of making photographs. This workshop will be project
based and seek to 'energise' both the frame AND you!
"Gilden's
credo is to 'energise the frame' in a way that captures the punters' tension
before and after the off. In every image there is a psychodrama taking place. He
tends not to show much of the track around his subjects, frequently isolating
them in a flash blur, and removing them from any clearly identifiable setting.
Gilden's portrayal of modern society may not be entirely joyful, but his
combination of quick, close confrontation and flash lighting, perfectly conveys
the excitement, chaos and energy of life at the track."
Bruce
will work with the students to teach them how they can improve their
pictures shot in the streets by best identifying their personal working
'style' for street photography, and aiding them in gaining 'street smart'
sensibilities necessary to working in any environment- that ability to be
in the middle of the scenario, but not be unobtrusive. |
About Bruce Gilden
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"Even though the last five years I have been reading a lot of
contemporary American, British and Irish literature, my main influence
outside of photography is cinematic: I love the imagery of the
films noirs, and since I am a product of black-and-white
television, I work exclusively in black and white."
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Bruce
Gilden was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and attended Penn State
University where he became bored studying sociology. In 1968, after seeing
the Antonioni film Blow Up, he bought his first camera. Though he took
some courses at night at the School of Visual Arts in New York he is
basically self-taught in photography.
When he was a child
Gilden spent hours at the window studying the street. His fascination for
street life continued and led him to his first projects photographing in
Coney Island and then to the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. At the time Gilden
supported himself by driving taxis.
Gilden, who has done
extended projects on New York, Haiti, France and Japan, started exhibiting
as early as 1971 and has since shown his work widely in museums and
galleries all over the world. His in-the-face, theatrical and dynamic
style shows his admiration for Lisette Model.
Gilden has received
numerous grants and awards for his work including three National
Endowments for the Arts Fellowships (1980, 1982 and 1984), a Villa Médicis
Hors les Murs (1995), a New York State Foundation for the Arts Grant (1992
and 1979), the European Award for Photography (1996) and a Japan
Foundation Fellowship (1999).
He
is represented in many collections including MOMA, New York; Victoria and
Albert Museum, London; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris and the National
Gallery of Canada.
|
 Bruce
Gilden's books - buy from here to support the Duckspool Education Trust.
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Facing New York,
1992
This collection of photographs by Bruce Gilden captures various
individuals and personalities in action in New York. His pictures from
Haiti won him the Houston Foto Fest Book Award in 1990. |
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Haiti,
1998
Steeped in Voodoo and brutalized by its
rulers, Haiti is a country where human life is cheap and animals hardly
worth life. This book by photographer Bruce Gilden sets out to capture the
unconscious violence that runs through the country from slaughterhouse to
street, and the importance of Voodoo |
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After The Off, 1999
Set in rural Ireland, against the
background of the on-course gambling operating at the many local race
meetings held throughout the country, this book combines the photographs
of Bruce Gilden with the story-telling of Dermot Healy. It seeks to create
a portrait of this aspect of rural Irish life. |
Go, 2000
Bruce Gilden here explores the darker side
of Japan. The volume presents 62 images covering three main areas: Yakuza
(Japanese mafia), Bosozoko (biker gangs), and lastly, street life in all
its brutal reality. |
In association with
In association with
for USA and 
for UK, click on the
buttons
where ever
you see them to have a book delivered to you within days,
anywhere in the world, or sent to a friend gift wrapped! As a bonus for
ordering ANYTHING via the buttons on the DUCKSPOOL site (or above), you will
often receive a hefty discount
AND help provide bursary places for the talented, underprivileged and deserving, to attend
visual training workshops via the Duckspool
Education Trust
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