Image above by Bruce Wrighton, (Left)Downtown Man II, Binghamton, NY,1987; (Right) Downtown Man XVIII, Binghamton, NY, 1987. Estate of Bruce Wrighton courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery.
Laurence Miller Gallery presents Bruce Wrighton: The Downtown Men, a series of 20 color portraits taken in downtown Binghamton, New York, between 1986 and 1988.
In the two years prior to his death at age 38 in 1988, Wrighton photographed extensively near his home, using a cumbersome 8 x 10 inch tripod-based camera. He would ask the most ordinary of people, from a parking lot attendant to a security guard, to pose for up to six minutes while he got everything in his viewfinder correct, which allowed for the subject to relax and drop his defense. Combining a strong sense of formal design with empathy for his subjects, he produced a singular body of work that is a unique document of a slice of America, a slice that appears to be growing throughout the country.
Bruce Wrighton, (Left) Downtown Man XII, Binghamton, NY, 1987; (Right) Downtown Man XIII, Binghamton, NY, 1987, Estate of Bruce Wrighton courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery.
Bruce Wrighton, (Left) Downtown Man VI, Binghamton, NY, 1987; (Right) Downtown Man XIV, Binghamton, NY, 1987, Estate of Bruce Wrighton courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery.
Bruce Wrighton, (Left) Downtown Man I, Binghamton, NY, 1987; (Right) Downtown Man IV, Binghamton, NY, 1987, Estate of Bruce Wrighton courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery.
