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A crowd watches the demonstrators returning to the city hall steps
A crowd watches the demonstrators returning to the city hall steps
A crowd watches the demonstrators returning to the city hall steps

A crowd watches the demonstrators returning to the city hall steps

Maker Lyon, Danny American, b. 1942 Brooklyn, NY
Date1963; printed later
MediumGelatin silver print
Dimensionsimage: 8 5/8 in x 12 3/4 in; mat: 16 in x 20 in; paper: 11 in x 14 in
Credit LineGift of Peter Chatzky
Object number2013:221
Collections
  • Protest and activism
About the ArtistDanny Lyon’s early documentary career was established and defined by his gritty photographer-as-participant approach. His first book, The Movement (1964), evolved from his experiences as a staff photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement. In the Bikeriders series (1968), which Sparky and Cowboy, Shereville, Indiana is a part of, Lyon rode and lived with the bikers he photographed. Lyon’s work belies the standard detachment of documentary humanism and objectivism in favor of a more complicated subjective involvement. Danny Lyon’s photojournalistic style is marked by its staunch pursuit of the unembellished moment. Clearing Land, Ellis Unit, Texas, a picture of a prison work gang, is part of a series on prison life that later became the book Conversations with the Dead (1971). Continuing his interest in the communities that develop–voluntarily or otherwise–on the outskirts of mainstream society, Lyon photographed the daily routine and rituals that evolve in prison and within which issues of race, masculinity, and class coalesce.

Born in 1942 in Brooklyn, Danny Lyon received a BA from the University of Chicago in 1973. As a photographer and filmmaker, Lyon has shown insight into the worlds of those who live outside the mainstream of society. In 1967, for instance, he was given unrestricted permission to photograph the lives of convicts in Texas prisons, resulting in the portfolio Conversations with the Dead (1971). His films include Little Boy (1977), Los Niños Abandonados (1975), and Social Sciences 127 (1969). Lyon’s work has been frequently exhibited and collected; he is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts grants in both film and photography.
Sheriff Jim Clark arrests two demonstrators who displayed placards on the steps in front of the federal building in Selma
Sheriff Jim Clark arrests two demonstrators who displayed placards on the steps in front of the federal building in Selma
Lyon, Danny
1963; printed 2010
An angry crowd forms in Cambridge
An angry crowd forms in Cambridge
Lyon, Danny
1964; printed 2010
After giving a concert in a cotton field in Greenwood, Bob Dylan plays behind the SNCC office. Bernice Reagon, one of the original Freedom Singers and today leader of Sweet Honey in the Rock, listens. Mendy Samstein sits behind Dylan and talks to Willie Blue
After giving a concert in a cotton field in Greenwood, Bob Dylan plays behind the SNCC office. Bernice Reagon, one of the original Freedom Singers and today leader of Sweet Honey in the Rock, listens. Mendy Samstein sits behind Dylan and talks to Willie Blue
Lyon, Danny
1963; printed 2010
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic party was created in 1964 as an alternative to the regular state parties, from which blacks were executed. Eighty thousand people joined. Here people vote in Mississippi, most for the first time in their lives
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic party was created in 1964 as an alternative to the regular state parties, from which blacks were executed. Eighty thousand people joined. Here people vote in Mississippi, most for the first time in their lives
Lyon, Danny
1964; printed 2010
Charles Sherrod (standing at right) and Randy Battle (seated) visit a supporter in the Georgia countryside. Sherrod married there and thirty years later is still in southwest Georgia, a member of the Albany City Council.
Charles Sherrod (standing at right) and Randy Battle (seated) visit a supporter in the Georgia countryside. Sherrod married there and thirty years later is still in southwest Georgia, a member of the Albany City Council.
Lyon, Danny
1963; printed 2010
Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, Crowds Wait Along the Funeral Route of the Girls Murdered in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, Crowds Wait Along the Funeral Route of the Girls Murdered in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing
Lyon, Danny
1963
The mass meeting in Danville is so crowded that it overflows out into the yard. When word arrives that heavily armed police and an armored vehicle are waiting up the road, the crowd disperses, leaving the SNCC workers to exit last
The mass meeting in Danville is so crowded that it overflows out into the yard. When word arrives that heavily armed police and an armored vehicle are waiting up the road, the crowd disperses, leaving the SNCC workers to exit last
Lyon, Danny
1963; printed 2010
Willie Ricks was one of SNCC's great stump speakers, capable of getting great emotional responses from a crowd. During the Meredith March in Mississippi, where King and Stokely Carmichael marched side by side, it was Ricks who first unleashed the "Black Power" cry. Here he speaks in Atlanta.
Willie Ricks was one of SNCC's great stump speakers, capable of getting great emotional responses from a crowd. During the Meredith March in Mississippi, where King and Stokely Carmichael marched side by side, it was Ricks who first unleashed the "Black Power" cry. Here he speaks in Atlanta.
Lyon, Danny
1964; printed 2010
Roberto Cardenas, Center, and Fellow Demonstrators Carry Flags and Signs as they March Along Adams Street in the Loop to Federal Plaza, March 10, 2006
Roberto Cardenas, Center, and Fellow Demonstrators Carry Flags and Signs as they March Along Adams Street in the Loop to Federal Plaza, March 10, 2006
Perez, Antonio
2006
John Lewis in Cairo
John Lewis in Cairo
Lyon, Danny
1962; printed 2010
The Freedom Choir in the Tabernacle Baptist Church. High school students and children helped start the Selma movement.
The Freedom Choir in the Tabernacle Baptist Church. High school students and children helped start the Selma movement.
Lyon, Danny
1963; printed 2010
Honey Bee Watches Unseen, from "The Four Year War at Gombe" series
Honey Bee Watches Unseen, from "The Four Year War at Gombe" series
Ruttan, Alison
2009
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