Danny Lyon
PhotographerKnown for: The Bikeriders (1968) and prison documentary photography
Danny Lyon joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1962, becoming the first staff photographer in the civil rights movement and producing images from the front lines of demonstrations across the South. He spent two years riding with the Outlaws motorcycle club, producing The Bikeriders (1968), and later documented the lives of incarcerated men in Texas and Georgia state prisons for Conversations with the Dead (1971). His immersive approach to documentary — gaining access through prolonged personal involvement — was influential on subsequent generations.
Gear & Materials(1)
Leica
Introduced in 1954, the M3 was Leitz's first camera to use the M bayonet mount. Its combined viewfinder and rangefinder, with 0.91x magnification, set a standard for 35mm rangefinder design that every subsequent Leica M followed.
“Lyon photographed "The Bikeriders" (1968) with a Leica M3; he has discussed the camera in interviews as central to the access he achieved while riding with the Outlaws motorcycle club, where a large camera would have changed his relationship with his subjects.”
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