The Circuit

The Circuit – Bruce Gilden has never taken a break from photography. Except once, in that miserable spring of 2020 when Covid’s first attack took us prisoner. Stuck in upstate New York, without an assistant, with his Leica, his wife and a car, Bruce “locked up” was going crazy.

In late May, after George Floyd’s death, history came to the rescue with the massive protests that erupted throughout New York City. Bruce went exploring, going back and forth to the Brooklyn war zone and walking miles and miles down the street in pursuit of the rallies. Until one particular day in early June at the Barclays Center, when the story of Bruce and the Bikers took off.

Bruce found himself in the middle of a loud and dramatic crowd of mostly black bikers. He had just participated in a prayer for George Floyd at the call of the mysterious “Circuit”, as the black biker community in New York City calls its huge network and many social activities. After that, Bruce had only one thought in mind, “Find the Bikers…”

And so began a relationship that continues to this day. Determined to explore the true “biker life” of this unknown and often feared community, Bruce embarked on a social itinerary of the MC “circuit,” relentlessly photographing events in and around New York City where the biker family gathered. Now that he is a regular on the circuit, with many friends in the community, that nickname has become “OG” (Old Guard) or simply “Bro”. Now that he is a regular on the circuit, with many friends in the community, that nickname has become “OG” (Old Guard) or simply “Bro”.