East 100th Street by Bruce Davidson. ©

By Paul Goldfinger, Photography Editor  @Blogfinger

The cities of America went through tumultuous times during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Many experienced social upheaval and riots. Asbury Park had riots over the July 4, 1970 holiday which practically destroyed the west side of the city along with a famous tourist industry and a thriving shopping district. It is only now coming back.

This exhibit at the Princeton University Art Museum is about New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  The works are mostly still photographs by eminent artists who “made their bones” photographing these cities during very hard times. There also are some powerful videos of race riots and violent demonstrations in Chicago during the Democratic Convention in 1968.  It is a superb photography exhibit which is being shown all over the country. It will be shown at Princeton until June 7, 2015

Bruce Davidson is one of the most famous of these photographers. He is well know for his NYC work including his 2 year project called “East 100th Street” where he followed residents of one block in Spanish Harlem during the late 1960’s.

Here is a link to one of Charles Pierre’s poems in Blogfinger where we used a photograph by Bruce Davidson in New York.

http://blogfinger.net/2014/11/05/a-poem-by-charles-pierre-boardwalk/

This still is from a video being shown of the rioting at the Democratic Nat. Convention 1968. Paul Goldfinger still

Still shot from the Democrat convention riot video. Helmeted police use clubs on the crowd. 1968

Bruce Davidson image from the Princeton exhibit.

JACK TEAGARDEN    From the album When Jazz was King