Description

Steeped in Afro-Caribbean culture and brutalised for years by civil strife and the greed of its rulers, Haiti is a nation where the value of life is cheap. Though only an hour’s flight from Miami and mainland America, Haiti remains the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Bruce Gilden opens our eyes to this fascinating but tragic country; his electrifying images reflect the unconscious violence that runs through this island society from slaughterhouse to street.

I'm photographing myself out there. Not myself physically, but mentally. It's my take on the world

Bruce Gilden
© Bruce Gilden | Magnum Photos

An iconic street photographer with a unique style, Bruce Gilden was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1946. Although he did attend some evening classes at the School of Visual Arts in New York, Bruce Gilden is to be considered substantially a self-taught photographer. Right from childhood, he has always been fascinated by the life on the streets and the complicated and fascinating motion it involves, and this was the spark that inspired his first long-term personal projects, photographing in Coney Island and then during the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Over the years he has produced long and detailed photographic projects in New York, Haiti, France, Ireland, India, Russia, Japan and now in America. Bruce Gilden joined Magnum Photos in 1998. He lives in Beacon, New York.

© Bruce Gilden | Magnum Photos

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