Synopses & Reviews
Bruce Davidson's photographs of Central park reveal a haven of breathtaking beauty and ecological secrets, as well as a site for wondrous adventures.Renowned as an intrepid explorer of the urban terrain, and a member of Magnum Photos, Bruce Davidson has challenged himself in a remarkable new way, by taking on the visual and metaphorical scope of Central Park. Always compassionate, often idiosyncratic, this work reveals a sublime and at times transcendent vision. Davidson seems as comfortable with a wedding, a landscape, or a roller skater as he does with Central Park's more permanent residents, a newborn bird or a man seeking refuge on a cold winter's night. Davidson has intuitively discovered a multiplicity of mysteries, eccentricities, and characters that together reflect the vibrant and complex city of which the park is the heart and soul. At the same time, Bruce Davidson's Central Park becomes a metaphor for a larger human experience.
With text by author, journalist, and translator Marie Winn, a preface by writer and former Central Park Conservancy director Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, and Davidson's own anecdotal reflections, Central Park provides an expansive view of this wonderfully intricate and varied space.
About the Author
In 1966
Bruce Davidson, a member of Magnum Photos since 1958, became the first photographer to receive a grant from the NEA. In 1994 he was named Central Park's first artist-in-residence. Davidson lives in New York City.