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Iconic photographs of 1960s biker gang the Chicago Outlaws go on show for first time in UK

(more images @ original article)

  • Forty of Danny Lyon's Bikeriders prints will be shown 19 June – 16 August
  • ATLAS Gallery, London, to host first ever British show of iconic works

 

It's a photographic series that captures a small but utterly fascinating slice of 1960s life and style.

Photographer Danny Lyon got up close and personal with the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club between 1963 and 1967 to document their most intimate and honest moments.

The result, a series named The Bikeriders, is considered a classic work of modern photojournalism and gives a raw, unvarnished insight into the biker culture of the time.

 
'Sparky' and Gary Rogues Schererville, photographed in Indiana, 1965

 
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'Sparky' and Gary Rogues Schererville, photographed in Indiana, 1965

 

Danny's approach was to document his subjects intimately from the inside, rather than simply observing as an outsider.

To achieve this, he immersed himself in the biker life at the age of just 23.

The young photographer spent four enthralling years with the club's members across the United States, in locations including Milwaukee, Long Island New York, Chicago, New Orleans and Detroit.

His work was so controversial, Hunter S Thompson reportedly wrote to him warning him against his acquaintance with the Club.

He wrote: 'Dear Danny, I think you should get to hell out of that club unless it's absolutely necessary for photo action.'

 
Biker chick: Memorial day run in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965

 
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Biker chick: Memorial day run in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965

 

But Danny persevered and befriending his subjects, he photographed and recorded interviews along the way, creating an extensive archive that illuminates the diverse characters and strong narratives of this sub-culture.

The series of images was instrumental in demystifying biker culture and it remains a seminal work on 1960s America.

Born in New York in 1942, Danny started taking pictures in the early 1960s as a staff photographer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at the University of Chicago.

 

Benny, Grand and Division, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1965

 
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Benny, Grand and Division, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1965

 

 
Club member Cal pictured in his bike's mirror in Elkhorn Wisconsin, 1966

 
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Club member Cal pictured in his bike's mirror in Elkhorn Wisconsin, 1966

 

 
Cowboy at a 'Rogue's Picnic', South Chicago 1965

 
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Cowboy at a 'Rogue's Picnic', South Chicago 1965

 

His earliest images were published in a book on the Southern Civil Rights Movement, and during his career he has studied and photographed death-row inmates, street kids and the changing face of lower Manhattan.

A fascination with humanitarian issues and communities on the edge of society has always formed the basis of his work, and today he is regarded as one of the most important documentary photographers of the last 50 years.

(more images @ original article)

One Comment

  1. Buckshot Buckshot May 5, 2016

    Damn Cool Pics

    The way it was!!!

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