[Editor’s note: In celebration of the holidays, we’re spending the next two Tuesdays by counting down the top 12 Flavorwire features of 2012. This post, at #9, was originally published January 4th.] These boys look like trouble. You can tell by the way they grease back their hair, toke their smokes and snap their fingers… Legendary New York photographer Bruce Davidson documented a gang of “troubled teenagers coming of age” in 1959 Brooklyn, capturing the young almost-underbelly of a conservative, “innocent” society. They called themselves the Jokers. See them look tough, get tattoos, get into fights, dance to records, nuzzle with their gal pals and loiter cinematically. Spotted by the Retronaut, indulge yourself with this look back in time, with a tinge of glamorous masculinity and teenage angst.
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson
Image credit: Bruce Davidson