BRUCE DAVIDSON | Subway - signed first edition

First edition signed by Bruce Davidson on title page. Inscribed and dated "1995". Glossy black dust jacket is lightly rubbed. Dust jacket also has slight edge wear and a couple of tiny scratches on back. Boards and pages are clean and crisp. Fine book in very good dust jacket. Near fine or very good ++ overall. Includes original Aperture subscription envelope. "Since the ground was broken, New York City's subway system has been the stuff of legend as well as a source of inspiration and fear. This dark, democratic environment provides the setting for photographer Bruce Davidson's first extensive series in color. Subway riders are set against a gritty, graffiti-strewn background, displayed in tones Davidson describes as "an iri. descence like that I had seen in photographs of deep-sea fish." Davidson's range is wide and deep, his affinity evident. Never before has the subway been portrayed in such detail, revealing the interplay of its inner landscape and outer vistas. The photographs move from the menacing to the lyrical, from the soulful to the satiric. They include lovers, commuters, tourists, families, and the homeless. From weary straphangers to languorous ladies in summer dresses to stalking predators, Davidson's compassionate vision illuminates the stubborn survival of humanity. Davidson's accompanying text tells the story behind the images, clarifying his method and dramatizing his experience. He details his obsession with the subway, its rhythms and its particular madness. His naked prose, together with his compelling images, evoke the speeding sensation of a subway car, tunneling out of the darkness into new light and unmistakable beauty. In Davidson's own words, "I wanted to transform the subway from its dark, degrading, and impersonal reality into images that open up our experience again to the color, sensuality, and vitality of the individual souls that ride it each day.” - from the dust jacket flap 11.7 x 9.9 inches