Lonesome Town

In the town of broken dreams,
The streets are filled with regret,
Maybe down in lonesome town,
I can learn to forget

Ricky Nelson

Between 1958 and 1965 and then again until 2001, Bruce Davidson exposes the charms of the city, by capturing the darkest corners that surround and through it, dragging silently from end to end to document the events and effects of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, the “beautiful and devastatingly awful” life of the miners at work, and its domestic side, in Wales, the poverty-stricken block in Harlem and the New York City Subway system — 1970/1980 —, as shown and detailed here.

About the Great Britain series and the photo of the child with the stroller, he’s going to clarify that “it’s actually a girl. I don’t think you’d find many boys in a mining town pushing a baby carriage like that. They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Davidson had brought both a black-and-white and colour camera with him, but chose colour for this particular shot because he wanted to capture the sulphuric acid that was emerging from the factory in the background.

Born on September 5, 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois, at age 10, his mother built him a darkroom in their basement, since then his gaze continues to fascinate.

© Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos
Thanks independent.co.uk