Two Children on a Fire Escape

Bruce Davidson’s 1960’s reportage ‘East 100th Street’ of Harlem, New York, illustrates the extent to which poverty, drug abuse, and criminality impacted life on this block. Davidson, though, does not present a purely morbid or pessimistic image. This photograph of two children on a fire escape above a pile of litter suggests they will carry on playing regardless of their surroundings.

Two Children on a Fire Escape

Bruce Davidson’s 1960’s reportage ‘East 100th Street’ of Harlem, New York, illustrates the extent to which poverty, drug abuse, and criminality impacted life on this block. Davidson, though, does not present a purely morbid or pessimistic image. This photograph of two children on a fire escape above a pile of litter suggests they will carry on playing regardless of their surroundings.