Bruce Gilden, Hey Mister, Throw Me Some Beads!, book review

Hey Mister, Throw Me Some Beads! takes its title from a key phrase in Mardi Gras street argo

The book takes its title from a key phrase in Mardi Gras (©Bruce Gilden / Magnum Photos)

The spirit of the New Orleans Mardi Gras is captured in a new book of photographs by Bruce Gilden. Hey Mister, Throw Me Some Beads! takes its title from a key phrase in Mardi Gras street argot.

Strings of beads, doubloons (fake coins), and other trinkets are passed out or thrown from the floats in the Mardi Gras parades to spectators lining the streets.

Bruce Gilden first went to Mardi Gras in 1974, and suddenly found himself in “a pagan dream where you can be what you want to be”.

So, he became a regular, making seven trips down to the mayhem of Bourbon Street between 1974 and 1982, capturing the carnival crowds with the same intensity and poignancy that characterise his most iconic New York street photographs.

Gilden was born in 1946 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His first major project was recording tourists and pleasure-seekers visiting Coney Island.

He became probably best known for his work on the streets of New York, focusing on the city’s characters and outsiders.

His photographs have been widely exhibited in museums and galleries all over the world and are included in many permanent collections, including MoMA in New York and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Hey Mister, Throw Me Some Beads!, by Bruce Gilden. Kehrer £34