Thursday, February 12, 2009
Danny Lyon. Photographer. Activist. NYC.
Brooklyn native Danny Lyon is a self-taught photographer who joined the Atlanta-based Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1963 to document the U.S. civil-rights movement. His photos appeared in a book called The Movement. Danny traveled with the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club in '65 and published his pictures in The Bikeriders (1968). Indian Nations was a book Danny put out after 4 years of visiting native reservations. His book Conversations with the Dead chronicled the lives of prisoners within the Texas prison system. He also documented the lives of prostitutes in the streets of Columbia. Lyon has spent his career photographing marginalized groups around the world, bringing attention to their struggle and giving an inside look into counter-culture lifestyles. Lyon continues to take photos, he makes films, and works for Magnum.