Bruce Gilden's childhood in Brooklyn endowed him with a keen eye for observing urban behaviors and customs. After studying sociology, his interest in photography was sparked by seeing Michelangelo Antonioni's film "Blow Up", after which he began taking night classes in photography at the New York School of Visual Arts. Gilden joined Magnum in 1998. More info
My work on foreclosed homes in Detroit has actually been a continuation of a project that started in Fort Myers, Florida in September 2008. For me the major concentration of the work is on the houses or what’s left of the houses. I chose to photograph them mostly straight on like my street work in a very blunt fashion. To let the houses speak for themselves.
After going to Florida and continuing in Detroit I realized that foreclosure is one part of a circle. There is homelessness, job loss, economic difficulties, etc, etc, etc. In Detroit the problem is not only a subprime problem it’s a problem of people who lost their jobs. And this has been going on for many years. So it’s a much more serious situation. When I went to Detroit - even though I had known that the city was pretty desolate - I was amazed that a major city in America in 2009 can look like this.
Certain areas look like Berlin after World War II or like Beirut. Something is wrong here. Recently I have read books and articles and watched television shows on the foreclosure problem. How can you have a trillion dollar industry that’s not regulated? This was a scam from the beginning - that’s not to say that some homeowners aren’t at fault also, one of the problems is giving mortages to people who have a history of no credit or of bad credit. A big problem in Detroit was people refinancing their morgages and not being able to keep up with their monthly payments. Something is very wrong with a policy like this. But when I arrived in Detroit I saw a city government that does not take care of its people and a lot of those people have stopped caring. I mean I don’t care what the excuse is - how do you leave so many buildings that are almost totally destroyed standing. Kids can get hurt playing in them, it’s a breeding ground for drugs and prostitution. Property values go down, nobody wants to live in these areas, To me it almost seems like they are left standing so that one day they drive everybody out and grand new subdivisions can be made.
What was really sad for me in Detroit was that many of the destroyed houses were well made and beautiful houses at one time, they were like Grande Dames. Detroit at one time had the highest standard of living for blue collar workers because of the auto industry. It’s all gone. This makes the destruction even sader, it’s not like a dilapidated trailer in ruins. There was an elegance here - the houses were beautiful - it’s so sad. There were serious memories in these houses, people lived there for 50 - 70 years. When these houses were built there was pride in craftsmanship and you saw it in the houses. It’s sad.
I took the picture of these two Yakuza in a Ginza coffeeshop. I had a hard time not to find them but to keep an interpreter. I went through at least four, all women, because each time they agreed to do it but then gave it second thoughts and retracted for fear of the Yakuza! What I was thinking and saying: Can you please light up the cigarette again, again, again... Three times! And then I kept saying: "Hold it! Hold it!"
Why did you go to Haiti initially?
I went to Haiti because I wanted to do something to supplement my New York work. It wasn't far, it's three and a half hours direct flight from New York City. They have a Mardi Gras in February so that means people are on the street.
A very important factor is that historically Haitians weren't against being photographed. Whereas if you go to some other Caribbean countries, it would be much tougher to photograph. In other words, you'd put your life really in danger. Like Jamaica, if you don't have an 'entre' it's a tough place and they don't take to being photographed as well. If you're going to the areas I go into, you'll lose your camera or you lose your life.
But I should say, none of the pictures that I had seen of Haiti really knocked me out. There wasn't something that I saw, where I said "Wow, I love that picture so much, Haiti must be great for photographs."
What did you feel was lacking from the photographs you'd seen?
A photo either works or it doesn't. And if it doesn't it could be really horrible or it could be mediocre. That's a dialog that for me doesn't even need to be discussed because you see that it's good or it isn't. I'm not saying that everyone has my vision or my eye, but I'm pretty versed in what makes a good image.
What were looking for, visually and in terms of content?
I just go see what I get. I always work in my style but in every country that I go to I always find something a little different. I can sit there and say, "This is what I'm going to photograph" but then you get there and it's all fantasy because it's not what you thought it was.
I started, I think, in '85 during Mardi Gras and I was with my ex wife. We had a rental car and we were driving it from the airport to the hotel - the airport isn't far from downtown Port-au-Prince, lovely Port-au-Prince - and it was a Sunday night. I remember all these people were running to a soccer match in front of the car. I said to my ex wife, "Where have I been all my life?" because I just knew. It was because of all the people and all the activity and it was just great.
So with this photograph…. To me, Haiti has all the things that should make it a great country having a nice climate, being an island. But it's the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. I think if you work in a factory there, you get 3 dollars a day. That doesn't go very far.
