{"id":17595,"date":"2014-05-10T02:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-05-10T09:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=17595"},"modified":"2014-05-10T17:04:50","modified_gmt":"2014-05-11T00:04:50","slug":"an-afternoon-with-bruce-gilden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/10\/an-afternoon-with-bruce-gilden\/","title":{"rendered":"An Afternoon With Bruce Gilden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Click<\/a><\/p>\n

This article is written by\u00c2\u00a0Ayman Oghanna<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0an award-winning photographer and journalist based in Istanbul.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I step into his office and humanity explodes. People everywhere. Moments everywhere. An ocean of smiles, frowns, scowls, and yawns drowning the sidewalks. Since 1981, he has worked these Midtown streets and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s walking them now as he always has, a step or two faster than everybody else, with an eye on everybody else.<\/p>\n

Then he sees her. Twenty yards in front of him, a face-lift in the crowd. A slow moving cartoon of a woman with heavy make up and a shock of peroxide in her hair. She looks like old money and, despite the cosmetic surgery, old-age. A character. He moves towards her, fast, biting his bottom lip with concentration. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s close now, a few feet away; he steps to the right, looks up and pauses as if lost in thought.\u00c2\u00a0 She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about to pass his shoulder. And then it happens. He attacks. Turning and swooping into her face. Right in her face. FLASH. She gasps, his camera clicks and a hand shoots to her startled heart.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m the one who shudda jumped,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says to me, all Brooklyn, with a mischievous grin and a nudge to the ribs, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you see her?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d By now she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone, staggered halfway towards Broadway, and on we go.<\/p>\n

Through the crowds of Midtown we continue, him shooting strangers, up close, with a Leica in one hand and a remote flash in his other, me taking notes. He is Bruce Gilden, street photographer and member of Magnum, the Aston Martin of photo agencies. From the slums of Haiti to Yakuza drinking holes of Japan, Gilden has worked around the world receiving some of photography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most prestigious awards.\u00c2\u00a0 He has just finished two potent non-fiction essays, one on white supremacists, the other on foreclosures and a dreadful decaying Detroit. Yet his work is by no means widely acclaimed.<\/p>\n

His aggressive, insistent and invasive approach to New York street photography has left many street photographers, who often pride themselves on being invisible, aghast. Also, he uses a flash. An act that venerated Magnum founder, Henri Cartier-Bresson, once equated to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rape.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Take a tour through photography magazines, forums and blogs and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find some pretty divided opinions on Gilden and his flash-in-your-face-Midtown-street-photography-style that continues to drive his fame, or depending on your point of view, his infamy. Some call him a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153jerk,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thug,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153very nasty person.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d This anger has even seeped into his very serious and very sensitive work on Detroit. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a man who \u00e2\u20ac\u0153only sees the uglyness in people and i out to exploit them\u00e2\u20ac\u009d [sic] according to one online commentator following the release of Magnum\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s multimedia Detroit foreclosure story<\/a>. Just take a look at his work, says David duChemin, photographer and creator of forum Pixelated Image:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Black and white, garish images of people reacting to an aggressive man with a battered Leica. His subjects look like characters, which is what he calls them, and I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get much more from it other than he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got his own agenda, no regard for the opinions of others or an ethic of his own.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"1x1.trans<\/a>
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give a shit, okay? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m as crazy as the day is long,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says as we turn the corner onto 50th<\/sup>\u00c2\u00a0Street. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 5 foot 11 inches but walks through people with the presence of a much larger man. A giant.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 Look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m good at what I do, if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m good that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your problem, okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden tends to speak fast, without delay, and I stumble writing and keeping up. He slaps a palm to my chest. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Careful. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the light,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we wait, a truck passes, we carry on.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m good. I worked hard at it \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean worked hard equals \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcyour good\u00e2\u20ac\u2122- I have a niche. And the niche is me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He pauses for a second, maybe less, and grins. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 One time I had a fist fight. Right here. I had a fistfight. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very territorial, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t move out of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not paying attention. \u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

We walk on. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I gotta tie my shoelace,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gidlen announces to the street. He hands me his Leica and flash, ties a single knot and then he sees one- a man in a suit, a couple of bodies away. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tall with a shaved head and blue eyes, Gilden steps to him. FLASH. No response. The suit doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak, pause, or blink. He just carries on walking as if nothing happened. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Most people are relaxed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 like, 99 good and one bad, the one bad, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know, he makes up for the\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d FLASH. A lady in a red wig and blue anorak, he comes in from her right momentarily trapping her against a clothing store, then continues. She carries on without looking back. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The only people who get mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153are those with something to hide.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden believes he can tell who somebody is just by looking at them. Which helps, because he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just shoot anybody. He may shoot black and white, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s colour he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s after. Characters, he says, like himself.<\/p>\n

A former editor at Magnum who has known Gilden for years believes that Gilden is a magnet for these characters, they come out for him, it seems, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re drawn to him. When Gilden works the street he has the air of a wise fisherman- he even dresses like one, with a khaki canvas hat and a vest with deep pockets for his gear- and can spot a character through a crowd 50 people deep. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all in the details, he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t teach that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He speaks with an attention to details too, splitting up sentences with a few words to add colour and definition to the make up of someone, even family. Whenever mentioning his wife, for instance, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153whose French.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Like: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since I met my wife,\u00c2\u00a0who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s French<\/em>, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been reading a lot.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my wife,\u00c2\u00a0who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s French<\/em>, laughs at me when I write something,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153my wife,\u00c2\u00a0who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s French<\/em>, says I have no patience \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she should know what patience is when you have to walk the fucking streets.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gilden stops to shoot a silver-haired-reptilian-Dean Martin-type-character; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as broad as a vending machine, wears a sharp looking suit and has a cigarette dangling from his mouth. The flash didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go off and this guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too good to let go, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey! I gotta get one more,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he tells him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Be serious, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re smiling! Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Smile. The lounge lizard obeys. FLASH. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thank you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once Gilden finds a character he likes to get in close with his 24mm lens and shoot however he can. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until he was in his 40s, he says, when he figured out why he takes pictures the way he does: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to get back at my father,\u00c2\u00a0he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because if somebody stuck a camera in his face, like I do with a flash, he would have knocked them out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gilden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father- 5 foot seven inches, 220 pounds, thick grey hair, big cigar and pinkie rings- was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a mafia-type,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a Brooklyn racketeer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He was an overbearing figure, verbally abusive, and Gilden, rough and rugged on the high school sports field, would feel trampled and lacking in confidence at home. Spectres of his father appear in Gilden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s photographs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c heavy men in hats, bruisers smoking cigars, Yakuza in Asakusa, skinheads in London, tough guys \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Gilden sticks a camera in their face, with a flash. But a photographer should not dwell on such things, he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153if I was conscious why I was taking photos the whole time I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be any good. It would be\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Oh God she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ugly. Right behind you. Can imagine that coming at you? You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d have nightmares.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Today, Gilden may be 62 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153and a half\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c years old, but he pounds the gum-spattered sidewalks of Midtown with the forceful assurance of teenage rebellion. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his neighbourhood, the street, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s playful and mischievous speeding through the crowd, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, always keeping an eye out for his characters- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good, and him, the little chauffeur gnome. Guy was a gnome\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6”<\/p>\n

“\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6This guy looks like he has a fake suntan on. Yellow. Either he got that or hepatitis. Get that man to a Doctor!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Gilden talks fast and walks faster. His wife, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s French, says that was one of the first things that attracted her to him and his colleagues and friends continue to be amazed by his energy and bombast.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now I gotta tie my other shoelace,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I think I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tie my shoelaces so I gotta take a rest a rest every once in awhile, nah, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just stubborn, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like people telling me what to do, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know? Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s go this way.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We turn onto 5th<\/sup>Avenue. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My wife, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s French, is always telling me to double knot my shoes. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the first one, Greg, my assistant, he tells me too. The mother must be glad if she brought any boy home.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Come again? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The ugly girl.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fifth Avenue is good for Gilden. Almost every corner has characters and possible characters for him to shoot \u00e2\u20ac\u201c eccentric businessmen, swine flu preventing face masks, square- shouldered security guards, tourists toppling under point and shoot cameras set to the improbable task of capturing sky-scraping skyscrapers- it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all for him.<\/p>\n

Gilden continues to photograph and no one seems to mind, often people smile, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard not to find Gilden endearing. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s likeable. A colleague who was with him for his recent white supremacist shoot in Arkansas says that there too people responded to him openly and affectionately even after Gilden told them he was a Jew.<\/p>\n

A chubby guy on a cycle rickshaw sees Gilden\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Leica and strikes a pose; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wearing a silly hat and plastic fairy wings. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an angel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says walking straight past him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fattest angel I ever saw.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t shoot exhibitionists or posers; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking to capture something genuine and sincere with his photographs, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s purity to his work, a strong human element.His recent images of white supremacists have this quality too. The photographs aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t of caricatures, but people. Even when they are disturbing they are human and compassionate. One image in particular comes to mind, a blonde-haired boy in uniform baring his teeth while a domineering bespectacled patriarch claps a heavy hand upon his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Guess what? My shoelace got open again,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he tells me. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know what? You could do this whole article with the interruptions of shoelaces. You could have that instead of chapters, with little shoelaces as an interlude. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cute. But, hey, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to me it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your article.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"***\"<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re standing on the corner of 57th<\/sup>\u00c2\u00a0Street and 5th Avenue talking about England. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You got a bunch of assholes in England, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s for sure,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says while a homeless advocate asks for change behind a white picnic table. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I get on better with the English than the French, because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re rougher y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know? Not that you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get rough French\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 One sec.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spotted something and moves fast. I look up to see three men strolling south.<\/p>\n

At their head is a short solid tree- trunk of a man. He has the look of a tyrant, with dark despotic eyes and an expensive tailor-made suit. A minder towers over each of his shoulders, both very tall, both very serious. International gangster types. Bad guys. Villains. Gilden heads straight for them, almost running. He knocks into a woman on the way, she gasps. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sorry,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says, eyes still focused on the task ahead. He takes a few quick steps to the left. And he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there. FLASH. Heads turn. Hairs stand up.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You are not allowed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says a voice in an unclear accent. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the tyrant. He steps to Gilden with an olive fist clenched to his side.<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m allowed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden flatly tells him. The tyrant steps closer, inches away. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You are\u00c2\u00a0not\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>allowed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t move. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00c2\u00a0am\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>allowed, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 he shoots back. One of the tyrant\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s minders, a tall slick 40-something-Tony Curtis- looking-individual approaches telling Gilden in a different, but equally indistinguishable, accent that he cannot take pictures. Gilden ignores him.\u00c2\u00a0 He speaks straight to the tyrant, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do what you want. Get a cop, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m allowed,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says firmly.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You are allowed?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Tyrant says, reaching into his inside pocket. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Okay, I will show it to you which way you are allowed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He pulls out a cell phone.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s do it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden tells him.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will do it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the tyrant says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I will arrest you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah? DO IT!!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden shouts. The Tony Curtis character raises his hands. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make publicity,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the tyrant says in a strained voice, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I will\u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u201cYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0ALLOWED TO TAKE PICTURES,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>Gilden snarls over him with all the righteous indignation he can muster. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell me what I can do in this country.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE RUBBISH!!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The tyrant yells.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m rubbish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153well,\u00c2\u00a0YOU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE WORST RUBBISH THAN ME<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The tyrant spasms and lets out a short and incomprehensible bark.<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By now, the other minder, a soaring Egyptian looking man with a neatly trimmed moustache, is walking towards Gilden like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about to do something. Gilden doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t move and the minder is almost on him, but then something happens. He hesitates. He looks down at Gilden, his Leica, his fishing hat, his untied shoelace and a flash of confusion crosses his eyes. Who\u00c2\u00a0is\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>this guy? Gilden stands his ground. The minder steps back. Irate and still clutching his phone, the tyrant retreats to giving Gilden a warning before walking away: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where you will step, I will following.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gilden isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t paying attention. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s turned to the small audience of perplexed onlookers that has gathered around him, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh\u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>rubbish he says.\u00c2\u00a0I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0rubbish.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The Tony Curtis looking minder has stayed on He asks Gilden:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you just be cool and say \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcokay, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to take the picture\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Okay, I apologise,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I apologise to you and not to him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But \u00e2\u20ac\u201d \u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gilden speaks over him, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like being called rubbish okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the minder says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153because you confront him he gets upset.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Gilden smiles. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is the street,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says.<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Calmly the minder raises a finger to make a point, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I know you have a right, but he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like to have his picture taken. You should respect that.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden nods in agreement.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If only I would have known that before,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he sighs, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have taken his picture\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. But, hey, I got his picture already so what can I say?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He shrugs and there it is again, the mischievous Gilden grin. The minder is silent. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden tells him, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m an artist type, not a newspaper guy. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care who he is, what he is.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the minder says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153you want to capture the image when nobody knows it. So you take it by surprise.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden nods a little taken aback that this guy gets it. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you would have asked him first,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the minder says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153he would have had the chance to say, no, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nah. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not my style.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I know,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the minder says. They part ways. Gilden almost gets a smile out of him.<\/p>\n

\"***\"<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re walking really fast now, heading towards Times Square. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fucking guy, I was getting mad,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden says. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full of vigour, taking a lot of photographs, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153when I get mad I get better,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he tells me. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I work from negative energy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d FLASH he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crouched low on the sidewalk shooting a tall balding man with hunched shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that fucking guy called me rubbish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says to me standing up. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re allowed to photograph on the street okay? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an art form okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a few minutes since his encounter with the tyrant and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still riled up. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That kind of guy could be a pain the ass for me though, because he calls up two heavy guys, they could beat the living shit of you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I stop to glance over my shoulder. He puts a hand on my arm,\u00e2\u20ac\u0153 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m looking for him, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nice camera!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says an arty middle-aged man in tortoise shell glasses. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wearing a vintage camera around his neck.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yeah? You too \u00e2\u20ac\u201cwhadda ya shoot?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden asks.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nouns,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the arty man replies.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nouns? What the fuck are nouns?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153People, places and things.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Woah! You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re too slick for me,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gilden smiles,\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good luck to ya.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The adrenaline hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t left us yet and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both still thinking about the tyrant, we should be crossing over 48th<\/sup>\u00c2\u00a0street, but Gilden is preoccupied. He stops.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do you think I do what I do? Why do you think I stand up to people like that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I struggle to answer. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because they think they are better than everybody else and I fuck em where they breathe. They think they have the money and they think they can get away with it. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what annoyed me about the foreclosures thing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the government, the banks, it was a total scam and we let them get away with it y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122know? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean America, I mean the world. \u00e2\u20ac\u009d He looks me in the eye and jabs a finger into my chest, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have that sense of morality okay? People say I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, but I do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\"1x1.trans
\u00c2\u00a9 Bruce Gilden \/ Magnum Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He keeps jabbing his finger to make his point, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look to soften it okay? I look to punch into the fucking solar plexus because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who I am. If I was weak they would have gone nuts on me. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not weak. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m 62-and-a half-years-old, I have an irregular heartbeat, a double hernia fractured knuckles\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. And I hate\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>people like that. Okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Okay. I believe him, I do. We walk towards Times Square, where visual noise meets human traffic. Pigeons swoop, vehicles honk and policemen swagger. Outside Hotel Renaissance an old man steps from a limousine in black tie. Gilden nudges me, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s see if he gets mad. Ready?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d FLASH<\/p>\n

Follow Bruce Gilden<\/h2>\n