Bruce Davidson's evocative photograph of gang members in Brooklyn, New York City, 1959, captures a pivotal moment in American youth culture during the post-war era.

The image shows members of The Jokers, a teenage gang that Davidson documented for eleven months in what became his breakthrough photographic project and one of documentary photography's most influential bodies of work.

At 25, Davidson was barely older than his teenage subjects when he began this groundbreaking series.

After reading about gang violence in Brooklyn's Prospect Park area, he contacted The Jokers through a social worker. These working-class, Italian-Catholic teenagers congregated around a candy store in what is now gentrified Park Slope.

Davidson's approach was immersive and empathetic. He spent months gaining trust, standing on street corners late at night, accompanying them to Coney Island, witnessing their daily rituals. "I was 25 and they were about 16. I could easily have been taken for one of them," Davidson reflected. "In staying close to them, I uncovered my own feelings of failure, frustration, and rage".

Shot with a 35mm Leica camera, the resulting black-and-white photographs possess what critics describe as a "lyrical quality" while maintaining unflinching focus.

Rather than documenting expected violence, Davidson revealed how The Jokers created community in response to neglect from families, schools, and religious institutions.

The series launched Davidson's career and secured his MoMA solo exhibition in 1963, making him one of the youngest photographers honored by the prestigious institution. John Szarkowski praised Davidson's work for its authenticity: "Few contemporary photographers provide personal observations so unadorned—so devoid of falsification or artifice".

The Brooklyn Gang photographs remain relevant as both historical documents and artistic achievements, offering insight into a pivotal moment in American social history while demonstrating photography's power to humanize marginalized communities.