Bruce Gilden: A Closer Look revisits the work of one of street photography’s most recognisable figures. A member of Magnum Photos, Gilden is known for photographing people at very close range, often using direct flash to emphasise facial features, clothing, and skin. His portraits are immediate and confrontational, bringing the viewer into close contact with people encountered on city streets. The book focuses largely on his continuing Faces series, while also presenting a wider view of his photographic practice.
The volume contains approximately ninety black-and-white and color photographs. Many of the images show individuals whose appearance, expression, or physical presence attracts Gilden’s attention in public spaces. His approach leaves little distance between photographer and subject, and the results can appear humorous, uncomfortable, vulnerable, or all three at once. By working so close to his subjects, Gilden avoids conventional street scenes and concentrates on the details that usually disappear in a passing encounter.
The book also includes two new, previously unpublished studies of paintings by Raphael in museum collections in Brescia. These works extend Gilden’s close-up method beyond contemporary street portraiture. Instead of photographing the paintings as complete compositions, he isolates details and examines faces, gestures, and expressions within the Renaissance images. The change of subject creates a direct comparison between Gilden’s treatment of living people and Raphael’s idealised figures.
This section focuses particularly on the idea of grace in Raphael’s work. Gilden’s intervention does not reproduce that ideal in a traditional manner; it subjects it to the same scrutiny he applies to his street portraits. A Closer Look therefore presents two related approaches to the face: one shaped by spontaneous encounters in public and the other by carefully composed Renaissance painting. Together, the photographs show an artist expanding the meaning of his close-up style without abandoning its directness.
Bruce Gilden: A Closer Look
Category: Photographer Monographs & Art Books
Author: Bruce Gilden
Publisher: Skira
Publication Date:
October 2026
Print Length: 192 pages
Language: English
Price: paid
paid
paid
Selected Books by This Photographer
A Complete Examination of Middlesex
2016 - The Archive of Modern Conflict
Bruce Gilden, Kalev Erikson
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