Bruce Gilden Annotated: Bikers (The Circuit)

Well, from 2020 to 2023, I photographed the bikers, okay? Black, mostly black biker groups. They’ve become family to me. And when they see me, they say, “Where's your wife?” When they see my wife, they say, “Where's your husband?” And they call me all kind of friendly names. Some of them not politically correct, but I'm not a politically correct person. And they like me because I'm upfront with them and... a bunch of really nice guys. We believe in... We have a lot of the same values. We belie

ve in respect. We believe in being polite. But, if we have to act, we go to it. They set this up themselves, and they did a much better job than I could have. They're actually not a biker group. They're a car group. That's in Ocean City. It's one of my favorite pictures. I love this picture. This guy here, he's about six foot six. I'm not going to mention his name. Six foot six, about over 300 (pounds). And the other guy is an ex-boxer. And these are one percenters. Those are the most respected

among the bikers. And the ones you have to really get permission from if you want to photograph them. Otherwise, there's going to be a problem. These guys are great. This is why I would be very good to do a liquor commercials or liquor ads, you know? Look at that. That's so beautiful. This was just taken in Atlanta, Georgia. And I like the idea of her head in the front. That adds something to the picture. Whereas if you didn't have it, it wouldn't be as good. This was taken the same night. See

also by being an experienced photographer, you learn what you can do and what you can't do. In other words, when you're dealing with bikers that you don't know. I don't know this guy. He’s from Chicago. You know, you learn, you know, you go in increments, steps. In the beginning, you can't do it. Now, if you go to a place where they have an event, I always introduce myself to the people that I want to photograph and say, I'm going to be around taking pictures. You don't mind? Most people don'

t mind. Some do. You have to remember which ones don't mind. But here, this was a big party in the South Huge party, and it was great. It's great, it's a four day thing. And, you know, I felt comfortable taking his picture. You know, maybe, I guessed right, okay? But they also know if I'm there taking pictures, somebody's allowed me to do it. You're not having someone come in there with a camera that's... you know what I mean? With a camera. I'm not talking about a cell phone. I'm talking abo

ut a f**king camera and a flash.