In Class Artist Analysis

Bruce Davidson

Bruce Davidson, London 1960. Girl Holding Kitten.

Bruce Davidson is interested in shooting people at eye level, creating emotion in his work. He portrays such emotions such as loneliness, despair, love, determination, and uncertainty. He catches candid moments of people in transition, searching for meaning. He likes to humanize his subjects, giving the viewer insight into their live struggles and disires.
This photo was taken on one of Bruce's drives through London in 1960. It depicts a young girl holding a kitten on the sidewalk. After stumbling upon a group of teenagers on the street he was able to isolate this girl for the picture. He was interested in the hopefulness, positivity, and openness to life she conveyed. The shallow depth of field works to isolate the subject and may have been caused by the lack of light. She looks slightly off to the left of the camera, which makes it seem more candid and spontaneous. The street behind follows the same line of sight of her eyes, which further focuses the attention where she's looking. He used a leica camera to take most of his photos.