Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden’s fiercely bold exhibition Why These? shines a light on the wide spectrum of society, bringing to center stage real people from back alleys, everyday life, and the true, unfiltered corners of the world. With a raw, provocative close-up style, Gilden’s dark humor serves a brighter purpose – to foster greater understanding between people. By exposing what lies just beneath the surface, he captures the fears that shape how we see ourselves and those around us.

Bruce Gilden, (b. 1946), a legend in the world of street photography, began his career in 1967. He captures scenes and people that others might consider intimidating, risky, or even repulsive. He is never merely a spectator, but actively seeks out faces that reveal more than they conceal – signs of grief and joy, desire and loss, intoxication and destruction. It is like a map of life.

Gilden’s relentless approach to his subjects, along with a healthy dose of raw audacity, has granted him access to seemingly unreachable social groups, whom he portrays with a surprisingly fraternal familiarity. His instinctive ability to penetrate closed-off worlds is tied to his own background – he was born and raised in old-school Brooklyn, in the Williamsburg neighborhood, surrounded by gangsters and tough guys.

With his all-encompassing photographic eye, he strives to capture absolute truth and to highlight the life experience etched into facial features. He gets close to his subjects and makes the viewer part of the scene, thereby creating exceptionally dynamic images.

„A good street picture will smell of the street,“ says Gilden.

Gilden has walked and worked the streets of innumerable cities for the past five decades, as a certified Magnum photographer since 1998.

Why these?

“Why not? “, Bruce Gilden replies in a flash. 

Bruce Gilden, enfant terrible of street photography, remains as spirited and determined as ever. “It’s my choice! I’ve been photographing for almost 58 years, I know my work, and I think these are among the best photographs I’ve ever taken in my life.”

Gilden selected his favorites from his archive, dating from the early 1980s to 2023. He describes his edit as “a nice mix of black and white and color which reflect the changing times and the changes in myself”.

The exhibition has been curated by Jessica Jarl, Global Director of Exhibitions at Fotografiska, and Maarja Loorents, Head of Exhibitions at Fotografiska Tallinn, in collaboration with the local team and Bruce Gilden.