Hello Steemians!

My name is Odysseas Tsouvalas and I am Photographer.

As you already know, photography is my life. If you ask me to write a title for my work I will write only this.

This is photography. This is me.

This week My dedication will be for one of the best (for me) street photographers.

Our second dedication is Bruce Gilden.
The “flash” photographer
Portfolio

Every photographer has a “special” photographic part, tool, position, style. For Gilden, the best part is his flash. He uses his external flash to make more emotional his shots and this is his personal touch.

Who is Bruce Gilden

Bruce Gilden was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946. His first studies were at Penn State University at sociology. He got fast bored and started then his life's road as an actor, till 1967. This year Gilden made his start as a photographer. He bought a camera and started to photograph the streets of New York. He decided not to study though he did attend some evening classes at the School of Visual Arts, he considered his self as a self-taught photographer.

"Well, lool, the idea of doing pictures is not to have arguments, ok?"

Street Life - Street Interest

His first influence was by Michelangelo Antonioni's film (Blowup).
After that Gilden bought his first camera and started his photographic experience at New York's streets. Fascinated with people on the street, Gilden realised he could be a photographer, so he started his career, with his first steps shooting colour and he introduced to the Leica S camera as part of Magnum's Postcards from America project. source

"I always liked the dark side of life. I like things that aren’t considered average."

Black & White

It is known that photography has 2 main type of colours.

Colourful | Black&white

Bruce Gilden started his career with colourfull photography, but from his steps, he decided to follow Black&White. But his shots represents perfect both sides. My opinion though is that Black and White is more effective to promote his feelings than colour, but this is a personal thought.

MAGNUM Photos & Bruce Gilden

Magnum is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members.

"Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, a curiosity about what is going on in the world, a respect for what is going on and a desire to transcribe it visually."

Bruce Gilden joined Magnum Photos in 1998.

Face Shots

Bruce Gilden's work is internationally known. But his best works are the Face Shots were photographer shoots unknown people, closely and without warning them. To add more excitement he flashes his "models" with an external flash from a different side of his camera.

“ I’m known for taking pictures very close, and the older I get, the closer I get ”

Publications

His publication journal started with his first work with title "The small Haiti Portfolio (Limited Edition)", Helsinki, Finland, 1990
After that almost every 2 years he had a publication.
With for me the best "Magnum Stories". London, 2004 (Edited by Chris Boot)

Awards

He counts 11 awards for his work.
1979: Artist’s Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York.
1980: Photographer’s Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1984: Photographer’s Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1984: Artist’s Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York.
1992: Photographer’s Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts.
1992: Artist’s Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York.
1995: Villa Medicis Hors les Murs (an artist's fellowship), from Institut Français.
1996: European Publishers Award for Photography for Haiti.
1999: Artist's Fellowship, from the Japan Foundation, for Tokyo Extremes.
2000: Artist’s Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York.
2013: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Collections

Gilden's work is held in the following collections:
Tokio Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

If you got interested from this, you must take a look at those videos.

WMYC Street Shots: Bruce Gilden
This is one of my FAVORITE videos about Gilden. He shows how he works with unknown people, how he can "flash" them and earn those fabulus shots...

Bruce Gilden - Just another day, just another photograph
This helped me to understand how can I make better my community with my models, or with the strangers at the street.

Is This Art Photography Any Good? - Take it or Leave it with Bruce Gilden
Worth to spend some time at this video, because you will be able to understand better the meaning of your photos, and might be able to comment clearly your shots without any "I don't know, I just shot it because I like this".

Bruce Gilden Iris Nights: In the Crowd
Maybe last but not least Gilden's lecture at thephotospace.org

All photos and infos are from those sources :