BRUCE GILDEN
A CLOSER LOOK
28.11.2025–22.02.2026
Bruce Gilden is considered one of the great representatives of classic street photography and one of the most uncompromising portrait photographers of our time. For over five decades—and since 1998 as a member of legendary agency Magnum Photos—he has been pointing his camera at those who otherwise remain invisible: the “underdogs,” “misfits,” and marginalized figures of society. With radical closeness and unvarnished directness, he creates images that immediately confront, disturb, and move us at the same time.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946, Gilden found his own way into photography after briefly studying sociology. Apart from a few evening classes at the School of Visual Arts, he considers himself self-taught—an approach that continues to shape his distinctive style to this day. His work has been exhibited worldwide, won numerous awards, and been published in more than thirty books. With the exhibition A Closer Look, opening at WestLicht on 28 November 2025 his work will now be presented for the first time as a solo exhibition in Vienna.
>>> MASTERCLASS WITH BRUCE GILDEN!
BRUCE GILDEN
A CLOSER LOOK
28.11.2025–22.02.2026
Bruce Gilden is considered one of the great representatives of classic street photography and one of the most uncompromising portrait photographers of our time. For over five decades—and since 1998 as a member of legendary agency Magnum Photos—he has been pointing his camera at those who otherwise remain invisible: the “underdogs,” “misfits,” and marginalized figures of society. With radical closeness and unvarnished directness, he creates images that immediately confront, disturb, and move us at the same time.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946, Gilden found his own way into photography after briefly studying sociology. Apart from a few evening classes at the School of Visual Arts, he considers himself self-taught—an approach that continues to shape his distinctive style to this day. His work has been exhibited worldwide, won numerous awards, and been published in more than thirty books. With the exhibition A Closer Look, opening at WestLicht on 28 November 2025 his work will now be presented for the first time as a solo exhibition in Vienna.
Bruce Gilden George Abe on the right, an ex-Yakuza member and celebrity writer, Asakusa, Japan, 1998
© Bruce Gilden / Magnum Photos
Bruce Gilden Feast of San Gennaro, Little Italy, New York City, USA, 1984
© Bruce Gilden / Magnum Photos
The exhibition is a cooperation with Magnum Photos and Kunstfoyer der Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung Munich.
BRUCE GILDEN
A CLOSER LOOK
28.11.2025-22.02.2026
Opening hours:
TUE, WED, FRI: 2–7 pm
THU: 2–9 pm
SAT, SUN, HOLIDAY: 11am–7 pm
MON: closed
The exhibition is a cooperation with Magnum Photos and Kunstfoyer der Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung Munich.
BRUCE GILDEN
A CLOSER LOOK
28.11.2025-22.02.2026
Opening hours:
TUE, WED, FRI: 2–7 pm
THU: 2–9 pm
SAT, SUN, HOLIDAY: 11am–7 pm
MON: closed