Personal Investigation Outcome 1

Clare Flynn A0113914

My two chosen photographic artists that employ similar styles, techniques and themes to
their work are Dougie Wallace and Bruce Gilden.

Dougie Wallace

“What motivates my pictures is human behaviour. People’s interactions and emotions

fascinate me. My stories are thematic.”

• (Dougie Wallace image, taken from Wallace’s Twitter profile, https://twitter.com/dougiewallace/photo)

Dougie Wallace is an ex-military Scottish photographer known for his social documentary
projects that incorporate his distinct direct style of street photography. Wallace’s imagery is
“visually exaggerated and hard edged” which many critics like to say has been developed from
his tough Glaswegian upbringing which he does not contest. His military background is obvious
as it has given him the confidence that is necessary to shoot complete strangers right in their face
in a strategic fashion. Accompanied by his trusty Leica with two Olympus external flash guns
attached, Wallace has his own mini portable studio to hand that enables him to see the intricate
details of even the inside of a person's mouth.
 • (‘Harrodsburg’ images, taken from Wallace’s website,
http://www.dougiewallace.com/harrodsburg/sosgw7gdyo5a4fnxxex7zuggrxrrz4)

Unsurprisingly he has met many objections during his invasive shoots especially for his
‘Harrodsburg’ project which documented the lives of the super-rich shopping and driving nearby
Harrods in London. He would have others taking pictures of him from the Arab community
when he was out shooting them that would hurl abuse at him and wish for “God to strike him
down” and even exclaiming for his head to be chopped off. Harrods even went to the extent of
placing ‘Sale’ posters on the doors to prevent Wallace from taking shots of shoppers coming out
of the store. To do what Wallace does you need to have thick skin as he clearly receives strong
reactions from people. It is demanded of him to have a strong will to persist if he is to ever
continue and complete his invasive candid concepts for his photo documentary projects.

• (‘Harrodsburg’ images, taken from Wallace’s website,

http://www.dougiewallace.com/harrodsburg/74l7tkdqbxtkzm7o65vym3i4a0hx06)

Wallace stands firm and disputes the naysayers for this project as the people he shot for this are
the people who drive supercars to show off their massive wealth and are covered head to toe in
jewelry, so they want to be seen. Wallace argues that this project is about displaying the
phenome of the 1% owning an abundance of money and the immense wealth gap that it creates.
He strives to highlight the absurdness of supercars and luxury stores right next door to
foodbanks. Wallace also supports that he is not mocking them but that he is just shining light and
bringing attention to what he sees. However, I would have to disagree with this slightly as it
comes across from publishing many unflattering images that he takes pleasure in making the rich
look a little foolish.

• (‘Harrodsburg’ images, taken from Wallace’s website,

http://www.dougiewallace.com/harrodsburg/n89nkt8bckvtc1o4r6elbzhfsqrzxs)

Aside from targeting the rich with lip stick smudged on their teeth and awkward angles of double
chins and gawking mouths, Wallace has plenty of work of everyday people in various projects he
has produced and continues to work on. East Ended is a notable example of this as he captured
every day ‘EastEnders’ going about their day making a living working on their stalls and
includes the punters who would flock to them.
 • (‘East Ended’ images, taken from Wallace’s website, http://www.dougiewallace.com/east-
ended/oa01mlc2v66rxeity9hcx9eifu9xdk)

Dougie Wallace’s overwhelming theme of his imagery is clear. Wallace is bringing the viewers'
attention to the absurdity and comedy of the everyday. He is catching people off guard in a
candid almost brutish fashion which truly captures what people look like going about their
business day to day whilst poking fun at the surprise of many who are suddenly greeted by a tall
fedora wearing Glaswegian sticking a camera in their face.

Bruce Gilden

“If you can smell the street from looking at the photo, it’s a street photograph.”

• (Bruce Gilden quote, taken from YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM)

• (Bruce Gilden image, taken from his website, https://www.brucegilden.com/bio)

Bruce Gilden is a Brooklyn born American photographer who has earned himself icon
status in the world of street photography. Gilden’s work is in your face and at many times
uncomfortable to view as his imagery can be severely unflattering. Setting out into the world of
street photography, Gilden’s first thought was “How do I attack New York City?” This explains
exactly what his imagery is, an attack of people’s personal space. Gilden has successfully carried
out his goal as he has said that he has no ethics when it comes to photographing people so pushes
it to the limit of invading strangers' personal space to get that crucial final image.
 • ‘(A Beautiful Catastrophe’ images, taken from Gilden’s website, https://www.brucegilden.com/#/a-
beautiful-catastrophe/)

Primarily, Gilden is a black and white candid street photographer however in recent years he has
brought colour portraits into his work that are equally as interesting. Like Wallace he also uses a
lot of off camera flash accompanied with a Leica. He strives to capture the energy of the street
and seeks to highlight the stress and anxiety of living in a fast-paced city like New York. Flash
helps him visual these feelings of the city as you get a clear picture complete with harsh light and
dark shadows which emphasises all the wrinkles and any imperfections on a subject’s face that
would otherwise be lost without flash.
 • (“Go” images, taken from Gilden’s website, https://www.brucegilden.com/#/pagego/)

Gilden’s own father was like a character from a mafia film with pinky rings who was always
smoking cigars so Gilden incorporated many images of smoking and people who fit this macho,
gangster archetype into his early work. Gilden loves these extreme characters and he seeks them
out on the street to capture the essence of what he was drawn to as a child. Gilden says that he
pursues photography so ruthlessly to get back at his father who never gave him any
encouragement or had anything nice to say to him. He constantly wants to prove himself which
is why he is so prolific and is constantly working on various projects. The closeness in his
imagery is incredibly important to Gilden as he felt detached from his parents, so he seeks that
with his subjects who he calls his friends. Gilden is so tall in stature that he must bend down to
shoot most of his subjects to achieve that critical closeness and to capture their face in frame.
 • (‘Only God Can Judge Me’ images, taken from Gilden’s website, https://www.brucegilden.com/#/new-
page-2/)

Gilden’s imagery of prostitutes from his project ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ is hard to look at, but
they are the truth of their situation and he believes that if you do not look at them you will not
understand their situation so how can you help them? Gilden emphasises his subjects flaws that
he finds to be beautiful, so he includes all the wrinkles and spots for his final images. Gilden
wants the voices of the neglected to be recognised as he himself wants to be recognised also.
Gilden is a self-professed sad and angry character most of the time and it really shows in his
work. Trust is pivotal, and Gilden believes that people trust him as he is a larger-than-life
character as he stands over 6 ft tall, with a scraggly grey beard, has teeth missing and wears
fishing gear day to day which I suspect can be rather intimidating instead. You get a real sense of
longing to be brilliantly outspoken and brash in his work and to be recognised for his efforts
which he has achieved.

References

WALLACE (2014). DOUGIE WALLACE. [online] DOUGIE WALLACE. Available at:

http://www.dougiewallace.com/hhhjjjjj.
Dougie Wallace, Twitter, Available at: https://twitter.com/dougiewallace?lang=en
FullBleed (2015). Dougie Wallace: Harrodsburg | FullBleed. YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx9LgBMkm48
Bruce Gilden. (n.d.). Bruce Gilden. [online] Available at: https://www.brucegilden.com/.
NOWNESS (2018). Photographers in Focus: Bruce Gilden. YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We_vS_-rgng
WNYC Street Shots: Bruce Gilden. (2008). YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkIWW6vwrvM.
Multistory (2017). The Making Of … / Photographer Bruce Gilden – Black Country Faces /
Multistory. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBeh9tUPRU