A picture is worth a thousand words” may be an old adage, but the challenge is one that photographer Danny Lyon has embraced throughout his career. Working in opposition to sterile and stereotyped images in the media, Lyon is committed to chronicling soberly the external world, to describing the underlying complexities of ordinary American lives. Lyon first published photographs as an activist for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, documenting Civil Rights protests across the country. The Bikeriders (1968), a body of work documenting the life stories of the notorious Chicago Outlaw motorcycle gang, established Lyon’s reputation as a photojournalist with a passion for examining his subjects closely. The photographs selected for this exhibition come from the museum’s permanent collection and chronicle the experience and lifestyle of the Outlaws, of which Lyon was a part for over two years.

Image credits: Danny Lyon, Crossing the Ohio, Louisville, 1966 Silver gelatin print. Gift of Arnold and TemmieGilbert 1988-14-8  Danny Lyon