Bobby's Book

In 1998, at the very moment that a publisher had approached Bruce Davidson about a book of his 1959 Brooklyn Gang photographs, former gang leader Bobby Powers unexpectedly telephoned the Davidsons. Over the next decade, Emily Davidson maintained an ongoing conversation with Powers in order to bring to light his struggle to overcome his drug-ridden and violent past and to inspire others with his example.

Through the words and reflections of the former drug addict and petty criminal, this book relates the long, agonizing journey from youthful urban violence and despair to the life of a committed and generous professional. Beginning in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in the mid 1950s where alcohol abuse and poverty were rampant, Bobby Powers went from being an illiterate gang leader and notorious drug dealer to a destroyed individual who had lost everything, including family members, close friends, and himself, all presented in his own words and in grim detail in this book. At a critical turning point in his life, recognizing the threat of his behaviors to survival, he entered detox and embarked on the arduous path to recovery and self-understanding. This process involved not only acknowledging and coming to terms with the injuries he had inflicted on his children and others, but also asking for their forgiveness.

Having achieved a new way of life as a responsible and caring adult, Bobby Powers is today, at 69, a nationally respected drug addiction counselor who has aided a wide spectrum of people, including former gang members. His story represents a brutal and inspiring lesson in human frailty, degradation, and transformation.

EMILY HAAS DAVIDSON was born and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. After graduating from Bard College with a degree in history, she studied acting in London and performed with the Arena Theater in Washington, DC. In 1967 she married Bruce Davidson and traded life on the stage to work as a photographer's collaborator.

BOB POWERS was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1942. One of eight siblings in an impoverished household where alcohol abuse prevailed, he eventually joined a street gang called “the Jokers,” which was photographed by Bruce Davidson in 1959. He spent much of his life struggling with addiction before recovering with the help of Narcotics Anonymous and finally becoming a drug counselor. He is the father of four children, one of whom died in 1999. He has seven grandchildren. He is retired and lives in Brooklyn.

BRUCE DAVIDSON was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1933. After attending Rochester Institute of Technology and Yale University, he completed military service in 1957 and began working as a photographer for Life Magazine. In 1958, he became a member of Magnum Agency. He has had one-man exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, The Smithsonian Museum of American Art, The Walker Art Center, The International Center of Photography, The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, The Aperture Foundation, and The Foundation Cartier-Bresson in Paris. He has received numerous grants and awards including two grants from the National Endowment of the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, The Lucie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Photography in 2004, and the Gold Medal Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Arts Club in 2007. He has also directed three films.