
Y's for Living, Vicksburg, Mississippi
By Kurt Markus
Located in New York, NY
Signed by the photographer. Additional sizes available upon request.
1980s Black and White Photography
Silver Gelatin
1988
Like the cowboys who were often the focus of his work, Kurt Markus’s photographs are imbued with a quiet strength. The acclaimed contemporary American lensman was universally known for his poignant black and white images, each one an intimate glimpse into the lives of their subjects.
Markus was born in 1947 in Whitefish, which is in rural Montana. Though his early childhood was spent outside, he knew that he didn't want to be a rancher. He attended the United States military academy West Point and served in the Army Rangers, but he realized the military was also not for him. Instead, he taught himself photography and fell in love with the craft.
Markus is best known for his moving photography of American cowboys. One of his books of cowboy photography, Cowpuncher, was named the best art book of the year by the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2002. Markus also trained his lens on the sport of boxing, photographing world champions like Mike Tyson in addition to lesser-known competitors all around the world, from Havana to Dublin.
Markus was a successful and distinguished fashion photographer as well, working with publications like GQ, Vanity Fair, Esquire, Elle, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. His long list of clients included the names Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne and Armani. One of the most influential images of his career, Young Man, Y’s for Living, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 1988, was initially used in a fashion advertisement for Japanese design icon Yohji Yamamoto.
No matter what he was photographing, Markus was resolutely traditional in his technique. Even as digital photography became more common, he remained in the darkroom developing silver gelatin prints. He strove to keep the process simple and free of gimmickry.
Markus received numerous accolades over the course of his career, including Life magazine’s Alfred Eisenstaedt Award and several Clio Awards. His work has been exhibited at the Staley-Wise Gallery in New York City, the Obscura Gallery in Santa Fe and the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica.
In 2013, Markus settled with his wife in Santa Fe, where he focused more on landscape photography. He died in 2022.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of original Kurt Markus photography.

Wilmington, North Carolina, 1950 - Elliott Erwitt (Black and White Photography)
By Elliott Erwitt
Located in London, GB
Wilmington, North Carolina, 1950 - Elliott Erwitt (Black and White Photography) Signed, inscribed with title and dated on accompanying artist’s label Silver gelatin print, printed la...
Silver Gelatin

Brooklyn, Silver Gelatin Print photograph
By Miguel Winograd
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The artist looks for a path between tangled branches. Reconfiguring a personal archive of diverse Colombian landscapes, experimenting with a variety of printing materials to reconstr...
Black and White, Silver Gelatin

Street Champion, 4th Ward - Black & White Photograph, Black Artist, Documentary
By Earlie Hudnall Jr.
Located in Denton, TX
No Edition Gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 in. Signed, titled, and dated in pencil on print verso by Earlie Hudnall, Jr. Earlie Hudnall, who is one of the most notable African Americ...
Silver Gelatin
Vintage Street Photography Bruce Cratsley Photo Silver Gelatin Print Photograph
By Bruce Cratsley
Located in Surfside, FL
Bruce Cratsley, American (1944-1998) Vintage gelatin silver print Lifting Hand (Scot) Chez Moi A surrealist image of a hand with a light study Hand signed, titled and dated 1986-1988 verso image (each): 15 1/4 x 15 1/4 inches, matted to 24 X 20 inches Provenance: From the collection of AGFA Graphics Corporation David Bruce Cratsley (1944 - 1998) was an American photographer specialized in still lifes, portraits of friends, and life in New York City. He had a reputation of master of light and shadow. Bruce Cratsley attended Swarthmore College, graduating in 1966, and then, in the early 1970s, The New School for Social Research, studying under Lisette Model. Cratsley worked for many years as a gallerist at Marlborough Gallery before quitting in 1986 to become a full-time photographer. As "Bruce Cratsley", he exhibited in various New York galleries, like: Laurence Miller Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery and Witkin Gallery. Cratsley was represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery, a dealer of fine art photography based in SoHo. He was photographed by Elsa Dorfman who shot many luminaries including, Allen Ginsberg, Denise Levertov, Anaïs Nin and more. In 1978 Cratsley contributed the photo sequences for the musical The Class, performed by The New Ballet School at the New York City Center. In 1980, Cratsley showed his work, Atlantic City, 1977, an August beach scene, at the 11th Anniversary show at the Witkin Gallery. In 1989 Cratsley was awarded with the Guggenheim Fellowship for Photography, US & Canada. Cratsley documented gay life in NYC including his life with David Waine, who died in 1991. "I'd been photographing David since long before he became sick [...] at some point I realized that this was an extraordinary thing that was happening, and that I had an intimate relationship to it. I photographed David just a few hours before he died, not knowing what was about to happen [...] David was very spiritual [...] My pictures are a poetic, spiritualized look at AIDS". In 1995 Cratsley was included together with Barbara Norfleet, Olivia Parker and John Sturges in the list of bestselling photographer at Robert Klein Gallery...
Silver Gelatin
The French photographer transformed everyday encounters into enduring images of shared experience.
The image, shot for a designer's ad campaign, feels like a scene from a real-life Alice in Wonderland tea party.