Press release Berlin . February 9, 2012

Bruce Davidson . Subway

C/O Berlin, International Forum For Visual Dialogues, will present the exhibition Subway by the US-American MAG- NUM photographer Bruce Davidson from 17th March to 20th May 2012. The opening will take place on Friday 16th March 2012 at 7pm in the Postfuhramt in the Oranienburger Straße 35/36 in Berlin-Mitte.

“When you are in the Subway, what is beautiful appears bestial, and what is bestial appears beautiful.” Bruce David- son

New York, at the beginning of the 1980s. A gloomy urban sprawl between hedonism and abyss. The subway, in its dilapidated state, is a hazardous place. Fires in tunnels, muggings, murder and drug trafficking are the order of the day; overcrowded wagons, frequent delays, graffiti and dirt everywhere. The journey with public transport is a night- mare. The photographer Bruce Davidson boards the train, immerses himself in the raging, rattling hustle and bustle of the city and portraits the passengers between uniformity and diversity, anonymity and intimacy, depression and inspi- ration. Whether lovers, musicians, homeless people, tourists or business people – in the subway and its passengers he finds the perfect metaphor for life in the metropolis with its aggression and ugliness, its hope and humanity. Democratic and radically public – the subway provides Bruce Davidson with the ideal setting for his long-term urban reports. In this rolling prison everyone is visible to everyone. The passengers respond very differently to this exposed setting. While some hide and duck away timidly in the crowd, others pose unabashed and use the carriages and sta- tions as stages for their self-portrayal. Even though Bruce Davidson does not photograph from a hidden perspective and usually respectfully asks for permission, nothing is staged in his pictures, every situation is authentic. The pho- tographer is always a passenger, observing the scenario – hunting for the “decisive moment”. This creates a unique tension in his pictures – the persons portraited appear full of human dignity even in this inhumane, ruthless world.

Bruce Davidson began his subway project in black-and-white however he soon changed to colour photography in order to best render the mixture of dark shadows, gleaming skin and sterile neon light. He masterfully captures the harsh contrasts and skilfully plays with the effects of darkness and light. The saturated colours in his pictures result from the use of flashlight. With the flashlight of his camera, Bruce Davidson intentionally draws people out of their shell and in this way enters into a brief dialogue with them. With his special form of street photography, Bruce David- son transforms the dark, impersonal reality into a colourful world charged with emotion and energy.

C/O Berlin will present a selection of the subway series by Bruce Davidson including the 47 dye transfer prints for the first time in Berlin. 25 years after the first publication, the catalogue was re-issued by the Steidl Verlag Jahre and Aperture on the occasion of the exhibition in 2011.

C/O Berlin . Oranienburger Straße 35/36 . 10117 Berlin-Mitte . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 09 19 24 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.com Bruce Davidson, born in 1933 in Oak Park in the US, began photographing as a youth and studied art at the Ro- chester Institute of Technology and at Yale University – in the class of Josef Albers among others. In 1957, during his military service near Paris he became acquainted with Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the founders of the renowned agency MAGNUM Photos. Following this he worked as a photographer for LIFE magazine and his first series were published here. In 1958 Bruce Davidson became a member of MAGNUM Photos. In his numerous photographic projects he primarily documents people in an urban context – in 1959 members of a gang in Brooklyn, from 1961 to 1965 civil rights activists, from 1966 to 1968 the residents of one neglected block in East Harlem, in 1980 pas- sengers on the New York subway and from 1992 to 1995 the Central Park and its users. Bruce Davidson’s works have been exhibited worldwide in numerous institutions and museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, International Center of Photography in New York, Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris and the Tate Modern in London. He has twice received a scholarship from the foundation “National Endowment for the Arts”, as well as a Guggenheim scholarship. In 2004 he was awarded with the Lucie Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Photography” and in 2007 with the “Gold Medal Lifetime Achievement Award” by the National Arts Club. Bruce Davidson lives and works in New York City.

Bruce Davidson . Subway

Exhibition March 17 to May 20, 2012 Opening Friday, March 16, 2012 . 7pm

Press viewing Friday, March 16, 2012 . 11am Opening hours daily. 11am to 8pm Admission 10 Euros . reduced 5 Euros

Catalogue Steidl Verlag, 2011 140 pages, 48 Euros

Organizer C/O Berlin International Forum For Visual Dialogues

Location C/O Berlin at the Postfuhramt Oranienburger Straße 35/36 . 10117 Berlin

Press contact Mirko Nowak Telephone 030.28 44 41 641 . [email protected] Auguststraße 5a . 10117 Berlin www.co-berlin.com

Partner Aperture

Medienpartner

C/O Berlin . Oranienburger Straße 35/36 . 10117 Berlin-Mitte . Telefon +49.30.28 44 41 60 . Telefax +49.30.28 09 19 24 . [email protected] . www.co-berlin.com