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Danny Lyon Photography

American, b. 1942
Brooklyn native Danny Lyon received a BA in history in 1963 from the University of Chicago, where he served as staff photographer for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. A self-taught photographer, he traveled with the Chicago Outlaws motorcycle club in 1965-1966 and published his pictures of the club members as The Bikeriders (1968). Since 1967 he has been an independent photographer and an associate at Magnum, and he has made films since 1969. Lyon has received Guggenheim Fellowships in photography and filmmaking, and his work has been included in many major exhibitions, including Toward a Social Landscape at the George Eastman House. His first solo exhibition was held at the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to The Bikeriders, Lyon has published a number of photographic books based upon his experiences with a group of people or in a particular place, among them The Movement (1964), about the Civil Rights movement, and Conversations with the Dead (1971), a study of life in Texas prisons. Among the films he has produced are Social Services 127, Los Niños Abandonados, and Little Boy. Personal participation in the lives of his subjects is vital component to Danny Lyon's photography. His subjects often deviate from societal norms, yet he is dedicated to communicating their character and sensibility honestly, sympathetically, and nonjudgmentally; for him this requires firsthand knowledge of their experiences. Whereas in his earlier work he seemed to withhold his own personality from the images in order to emphasize that of his subjects, his recent work includes more of himself. Lyon has consistently produced effective, sincere documents of real people's lives that have inspired many photographers since the 1960s.
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Artist: Danny Lyon
Shakedown, Ramsey Unit, Texas 1967-69 by Danny Lyon, Gelatin Silver Print
Shakedown, Ramsey Unit, Texas 1967-69 by Danny Lyon, Gelatin Silver Print

Shakedown, Ramsey Unit, Texas 1967-69 by Danny Lyon, Gelatin Silver Print

By Danny Lyon

Located in Denton, TX

Shakedown, Ramsey Unit, Texas 1967-69 by Danny Lyon is a black and white gelatin silver print, depicting a black man standing in front of a Texas Ranger. The man stands with his arms...

Category

1960s Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Bob Dylan Behind the SNCC Office, 1963

Bob Dylan Behind the SNCC Office, 1963

By Danny Lyon

Located in Santa Monica, CA

Signed in pencil on Verso Gelatin silver print Image: 22 1/2" x 15, Paper: 24" x 20, Matted: 24" x 30"

Category

1960s Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Crossing the Ohio near Louisville, printed later
Crossing the Ohio near Louisville, printed later

Crossing the Ohio near Louisville, printed later

By Danny Lyon

Located in Santa Monica, CA

SIgned, titled, and dated to verso. Photograph printer stamp to verso. Captured in 1966, printed in 2010. Danny Lyon (born 1942), is a self-taught American photographer and filmmak...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Heat Exhaustion, Ellis Unit, Texas
Heat Exhaustion, Ellis Unit, Texas

Heat Exhaustion, Ellis Unit, Texas

By Danny Lyon

Located in Denton, TX

Signed, titled, dated and misc. notations by Danny Lyon Gelatin silver print Paper size: 11 x 14 in., Image size: 8 3/4 x 13 in.

Category

1960s Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Crossing the Ohio (from ‘The Bikeriders’), Danny Lyon Motorcycle Photography

Crossing the Ohio (from ‘The Bikeriders’), Danny Lyon Motorcycle Photography

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

This is a black and white photograph of a man on a motorcycle in Ohio driving over a river bridge taken by Danny Lyon in the 1960s. Signed and dated, verso; Also studio stamp, vers...

Category

1960s Contemporary Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Three Young Men

Three Young Men

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Chicago, 1963 / Printed 2009 Gelatin silver print (Edition of 100 + 5 APs) Signed and numbered by the artist 11 x 14 inches, sheet size 9 x 9 inches, image size This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. In 1963, Danny Lyon spent time in a poor white area of Chicago called Uptown. Nicknamed ‘hillbilly heaven’, it was a very tough and deprived neighborhood. With a borrowed Rolleiflex...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Inside Kathy's Apartment

Inside Kathy's Apartment

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Chicago, 1963 / Printed 2009 Gelatin silver print (Edition of 100 + 5 APs) Signed and numbered by the artist 11 x 14 inches, sheet size 7.75 x 11.75 inches, image size This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. In 1963, Danny Lyon spent time in a poor white area of Chicago called Uptown. Nicknamed ‘hillbilly heaven’, it was a very tough and deprived neighborhood. With a borrowed Rolleiflex camera...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Two Years, Burglary
Two Years, Burglary

Two Years, Burglary

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Huntsville, Texas, 1968 / Printed 2011 Ferguson is a prison for young men, ages 17-21. Gelatin silver print Signed and dated in pencil, verso 11 x 14 inches, sheet This photograp...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Yard

The Yard

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Huntsville, Texas, 1968 / Printed 2011 The Walls is a walled penitentiary. It is the oldest unit of the system and is located near the center of the town of Huntsville. Gelatin sil...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Six-Wing Cell Block

Six-Wing Cell Block

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Huntsville, Texas, 1968 / Printed 2011 The Ramsey prison farm is set on 16,000 acres of Brazos River bottomland about 30 miles south of Houston and is populated by 1400 men. The pri...

Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Cell Block

Danny LyonCell Block, 1968

Price Upon Request

Cell Block

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Huntsville, Texas, 1968 The Ramsey prison farm is set on 16,000 acres of Brazos River bottomland about 30 miles south of Houston and is populated by 1400 men. The prison is divided ...

Category

1960s American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

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George Platt Lynes 1948 Photograph #1 of Balanchine Ballet ‘Orpheus’. George Platt Lynes rare original vintage 1948 gelatin silver photograph (dated by the NY City Public Library) of nude dancers Francisco Moncion and Nicholas Magallanes in George Balanchine's iconic mid-20th Century ballet 'Orpheus'. Stamped on verso in dark blue ink at upper center, "GEORGE PLATT LYNES/145 EAST 52 STREET NEW YORK”. Photo shoot took place in NYC. Costumes and Set by ISAMU NAGUCHI. Photo is 7 5/8 x 9 1/4 inches, soft satin finish in excellent condition. This photograph is from Francisco Moncion's original collection given to him by George Platt Lyons. It is one of 14 different poses in the 'Orpheus' series. 8 different photographs are remaining for sale and are available on request. All are original Platt Lyons gelatin silver prints original to Moncion's collection and are stamped by the photographer. Photographs from this celebrated series are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, NYC), the NYC Public Library, and many university art archives. George Platt Lynes (1907–1955), was a gregarious American portrait, dance, fashion, and male nude photographer whose career spanned the late 1920s through the early 1950s. From age eighteen, Lynes entered the cosmopolitan world of the American expatriate community in Paris when he became acquainted with the salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. He began photographing authors like Stein, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Colette and soon established himself as one of the premier fashion photographers in the Condé Nast stable, documenting the ballet companies of George Balanchine/Lincoln Kirstein, and pursuing a private obsession with seductive images of young male nudes rarely published in his lifetime. Orpheus represents a major 20th Century artistic collaboration between composer Igor Stravinsky, choreographer George Ballanchine, and artist/designer Isamu Naguchi. Orpheus is a thirty-minute neoclassical ballet composed by Igor Stravinsky in collaboration with choreographer George Balanchine in Hollywood, California in 1947. The work was commissioned by Ballet Society, later renamed New York City Ballet, which Balanchine founded with Lincoln Kirstein. Sets and costumes were created by Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi’s lyre harp from the production became the symbol of the New York City Ballet. Francisco Moncion (July 6, 1918 – April 1, 1995) was a charter member of the New York City Ballet. Over the course of his forty year career, choreographers George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins in the New York City Ballet created 22 major roles for Moncion including the Dark Angel...

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Early 20th-century San Francisco Swedish Ladies’ Luncheon Photo
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Head Lock
Head Lock

Luke SmalleyHead Lock, 1998

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Previously Available Items
Bob Dylan Behind SNCC Office, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963
Bob Dylan Behind SNCC Office, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963

Bob Dylan Behind SNCC Office, Greenwood, Mississippi, 1963

By Danny Lyon

Located in Toronto, ON

4" x 5" Unframed Closed Edition Photograph MAGNUM Photography Hand Signed by Danny Lyon

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21st Century and Contemporary Danny Lyon Photography

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Showers

Danny LyonShowers, 1968

Sold

H 14 in W 11 in

Showers

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Huntsville, Texas, 1968 Diagnostic Center is a processing center for inmates entering prison. Men arrive there from county jails throughout the state. After about a month they are c...

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Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

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Three Young Men

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By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

Chicago, 1963 / Printed 2009 Gelatin silver print (Edition of 100 + 5 APs) Signed and numbered by the artist 11 x 14 inches, sheet size 9 x 9 inches, image size This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. In 1963, Danny Lyon spent time in a poor white area of Chicago called Uptown. Nicknamed ‘hillbilly heaven’, it was a very tough and deprived neighborhood. With a borrowed Rolleiflex camera...

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Late 20th Century American Modern Danny Lyon Photography

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Cotton Pickers, Texas

Cotton Pickers, Texas

By Danny Lyon

Located in New York, NY

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Danny Lyon photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Danny Lyon photography available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Danny Lyon in silver gelatin print, archival paper, c print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Danny Lyon photography, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Albok, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, and Dan Budnik. Danny Lyon photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $750 and tops out at $15,000, while the average work can sell for $7,000.

Questions About Danny Lyon Photography

  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Danny Lion is known for his work as a photographer and filmmaker. The focus of his work is to raise awareness surrounding civil rights and socioeconomic issues. In addition, the American photographer's work in the 1960s helped to establish street photography as an art form. You'll find a selection of Danny Lion photographic art on 1stDibs.