--- description: 'First Take' is a weekly video series on the art and craft of photography title: Bruce Gilden's Take on the Meaning of Photography image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fc886019c179327/6988aa2bbc6cfc21293def56/bruce-gilden.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Bruce Gilden's Take on the Meaning of Photography by [Kenneth Bachor](/author/kenneth-bachor/) and [Olivier Laurent](/author/olivier-laurent/) Oct 17, 2016 12:49 PM CUT  TIME by [Kenneth Bachor](/author/kenneth-bachor/) and [Olivier Laurent](/author/olivier-laurent/) Oct 17, 2016 12:49 PM CUT “I’m not into clichés, I’m not into one line jokes,” says Magnum photographer Bruce Gilden. “I think there’s a deeper vision than I’m interested in.” In TIME’s latest First Take video series, which examines the art and craft of photography, Gilden reveals the process behind his candid and, at times, controversial portraits. “I’m photographing myself in my pictures,” he says. “That’s me, you know. Some people don’t put themselves in the picture.” Watch Gilden’s interview now and view past interviews with [Donna Ferrato](http://time.com/4447551/donna-ferratos-take-on-the-importance-of-photography/ "undefined") and [Elliott Erwitt](http://time.com/4447552/first-take-elliott-erwitt/ "undefined"). **_Bruce Gilden_** _is a photographer based in New York City. He is represented by Magnum Photos._ [**_First Take_**](http://time.com/tag/first-take/ "undefined") _is an ongoing video series curated by TIME’s photography editors._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4447548/bruce-gilden-first-take/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4447548/bruce-gilden-first-take/"},"headline":"Bruce Gilden's Take on the Meaning of Photography","datePublished":"2016-10-17T12:49:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:03.851Z","description":"'First Take' is a weekly video series on the art and craft of photography","url":"https://time.com/4447548/bruce-gilden-first-take/","keywords":["LightBox","photography","Instagram","portraits","First Take"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fc886019c179327/6988aa2bbc6cfc21293def56/bruce-gilden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kenneth Bachor","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kenneth-bachor/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivier Laurent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/olivier-laurent/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1fc886019c179327/6988aa2bbc6cfc21293def56/bruce-gilden.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bruce-gilden","caption":"Bruce Gilden","creditText":"TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4447548/bruce-gilden-first-take/","name":"Bruce Gilden's Take on the Meaning of Photography"}}]}] ```