DAWOUD BEY
Street Portraits
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 23, 5-8pm
Remarks: Wednesday, September 23, 6:30pm
Exhibition Dates: September 12 – October 17, 2026
Stephen Bulger Gallery is pleased to present Street Portraits, our second solo exhibition of work by Dawoud Bey (b. 1953, New York).
Bey is an American photographer and educator renowned for his large-scale colour portraits of adolescents and other often marginalized subjects. In the late 1980s, Bey began making portraits in his communities in Brooklyn, Rochester, and Washington, D.C. This series marked the first time Bey transitioned from a 35mm small-format camera to the more perceptible 4 x 5 inch format. Using Type 55 Polaroid film, Bey created a reciprocal experience with his subjects: after posing for the photograph, each person received an instant 4 x 5 inch print. Bey retained the large negative, which allowed him to produce enlarged prints later in the darkroom. These magnified prints vividly describe his sitters, their style, and their presence, creating an emblematic record of the time at a scale that replicates the intimacy of a personal encounter between sitter and viewer
Tuesday - Saturday: 11am to 6pm
