Photo: Danny Lyon, “John Lennon and Danny Seymour, The Bowery, New York,” 1969 Gelatin silver print, printed later. 11 × 14 in. Collection of the artist.
Danny Lyon does it like nobody else. Born in Brooklyn in 1942, he transformed photography into one of the most astounding arts of documentary possibilities. A self-described “dissenter in my own country,” Lyon took to the edges of American life to document the country from the inside out, removing the veils of appearance politics to reveal the truth about this country in black and white like no one before—or since.
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A self-taught photographer, filmmaker, and writer, Lyon’s work exemplifies the best aspects of New Journalism. Forsaking the industry’s so-called “objectivity” in favor of using the media as a means to an ends greater than the story itself. Whether on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement or behind the bars of the Texas State Penitentiary, Lyon used photography to bear witness to causes, movements, and historical moments that were happening in the here and now.
Danny Lyon, “Tesca, Cartagena, Colombia,” 1966. Cibachrome, printed 2008. Image 25.7 × 25.7 cm (10 1/8 × 10 1/8 in.). Collection of the artist.
In his 1999 book, Knave of Hearts, Lyon revealed, “The most unsafe place to be whether people are using rocks or bullets, is between the lines. You must choose a side, if for no other reason than to have a firm spot on which to stand and a moment’s peace to focus.”
His words sound even truer today; with the benefit of hindsight we may reflect on our path, our triumphs and our tragedies, and consider the lessons learned and the price paid—but not for naught because the battle soldiers on, the flames reigniting once again in the new millennium. And so it is that that there has never been a better time than now for a retrospective of the work of Danny Lyon.
Danny Lyon, “Bill Sanders, Tattoo Artist, Houston, Texas,” 1968. Vintage gelatin silver print. 20.7 × 20.7 cm (8 3/16 × 8 3/16 in.). Collection of the artist.
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, presents Danny Lyon: Message to the Future, on view now through September 25, 2015. Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where it will make its West Coast debut at the de Young Museum on November 5, 2016, the exhibition features approximately 175 photographs, related films, and rare works from Lyon’s archives, including vintage prints, unseen 16mm film footage made inside Texas prisons, and his personal photo albums; a comprehensive catalogue by the same name has also been released by Yale University Press.
With a body of work that spans over five decades, Lyon is one of the greatest artists of our time, a true inspiration to those who believe in the power of the life, love and art. It’s true—we’re fighting the very same battles today, albeit in a new form. Lyon’s photographs remind us that though the war may never end, we must never lose hope for we are charged to protect the beauty and sanctity of life.
Danny Lyon, “Powwow (New Mexico, South Dakota, and Arizona),” 1997. SX-70 Polaroids. 28 × 26.5 cm (11 1/16 × 10 1/2 in). Collection of the artist.
Lyon has known this from the very beginning. In 1964, as a 22-year-old starting to find his way along a path that would transform art, photography, journalism, book publishing, and film, Lyon understood his purpose here on earth, writing in a letter to his parents, “I am trying to make a record…but I discover my facts through forms and beauty. In the most beautiful pictures, the truth is easiest seen, which to me seems like out and out magic.”
All photos: © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
