Over 20 years ago, Merle Davis learned to use a camera as a technical tool, as a way to document evidence at the scenes of crimes and accidents.
Today, the Yale police officer uses his camera as a means for creating visual art, and his subject is the human face.
In celebration of Black History Month, about 75 of the hundreds of faces that Davis has captured on color film over the years are now on exhibit at the Afro-American Cultural Center.
These include such famous individuals as musicians B.B. King and Wynton Marsalis; basketball players Magic Johnson, Marcus Canby and Scottie Pippin; political activists Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and South African Bishop Desmond Tutu; and actress and Yale School of Drama alumnus Angela Bassett, among others. Interspersed with these are portraits of such Yale figures as University Chaplain Frederick J. Streets, psychologist Dr. James Comer and Davenport College Master Gerald Thomas, as well as images of many "ordinary" African-American people, from babies to the elderly.
"People's faces are the most interesting thing to photograph," says Davis. "I think the face reveals a person's spirit and essence, and I try to capture that with my camera. I mostly like to take close-ups of the face, which I often do using a telephoto lens."
Davis got his start in photography early in his 30-year career as a police officer, while working for the Hartford Police Department. He toted his camera to numerous crime scenes, as well as to the sites of car and other accidents, to take pictures that could be used as evidence in courts. He refined his skills taking photographs of his son and daughter as they were growing up. Since his children didn't live with him, Davis says he felt a particular need to "hold on to the moments" of his time with them. Now grown and in college, they remain a favorite subject for the Yale police officer.
Davis caught some of his more legendary subjects on film during their visits to the Yale campus, and captured the images of others while doing freelance work for a community newspaper, the Hartford Inquirer. He met Wynton Marsalis, for example, when the musician came to the Yale Repertory Theatre, and had asked Davis (who was in his police uniform) if he might be able to get him backstage for a visit with an actor friend. Later, when he saw Marsalis at another event, the Yale police officer asked the musician to return the favor by letting Davis take his picture.
"He's one of the most cordial of the famous people I've photographed," says Davis of Marsalis. He also fondly recalls the time he crossed paths with actors Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in New Haven. After giving the couple directions to a Chapel Street restaurant, they generously allowed him to take their photograph. Other notable personalities he has had the chance to photograph are Walter Cronkite, Spike Lee, Denzel Washington, Sister Souljah and Oprah Winfrey.
Though he will resort to posed photographs in certain cases, Davis much prefers to take candid, spontaneous shots of people. Thus, when he is not working, he often carries his camera along with him on his daily travels.
"I like capturing people at a particular moment in time, knowing that moment can never be duplicated," explains Davis. He is especially interested in photographing young children and the elderly, he says, noting that he enjoys capturing the respective innocence and wisdom of people in these two groups.
"When I see someone that I'd like to photograph, I ask that person for permission, or, if it's a child, I ask their parents," he says. "Because I'm not intrusive, most people are more than happy to let you take their picture, especially kids, who love to be in front of a camera."
Davis' smiling photographs of children and adults, as well as his more pensive shots of them, have been displayed at the University of Connecticut, the Community Renewal Team's (CRT) National Arts Program (which awarded Davis' photo of a young boy running beneath a water sprinkler second prize in a photography contest) and at the CRT's Craftery Gallery in Hartford, which is devoted to exhibitions of works by artists of African descent. He is modest about the latter achievement, considering himself only a hobbyist despite his extensive collection.
"It was an honor for me to be shown at the CRT Gallery, because that gallery exhibits works by some of the best black artists out there," says Davis. "I feel very lucky to have my work chosen." He was doubly honored when a noted photographer from Boston named Lou Jones asked Davis at the exhibit if he could buy the Yale police officer's photo of Boston painter Paul Goodnight.
Davis generally does not make duplicate prints of his photographs, and is not in the habit of selling his own works. In fact, he has created a veritable gallery of photographs in his home, where he has some 300 framed portraits on his walls. Not all of these are his own; he also collects artistic images of noted people.
Davis says his interest in photography has the same source as his fondness for police work. "I like and am interested in people," he explains. "For me, the best part of being a police officer is being able to help people." He came to Yale nearly seven years ago after serving for 23 years as an officer in Hartford, where he gained experience working in virtually every division of the department, from narcotics to homicide.
At Yale, Davis enjoys the opportunities he has to meet with students, and he is known among many for lending a helping hand. At Thanksgiving break, for example, he has invited students who are unable to travel home to his own home and to the homes of his friends for holiday celebrations. He also appreciates the opportunities to attend talks and concerts by the many noted Yale faculty members and campus visitors.
"Top scientists, scholars, authors, entertainers -- you name it -- come here, and I tell students all the time to not take that for granted. Those opportunities shouldn't be missed."
Davis heeds his own advice by attending, when he is off duty, many events that allow him the chance to photograph someone who interests him.
"Photography has been like a saving grace for me," he comments. "I feel it is important, in my line of work, to have something beyond the job to keep you busy. I garden, cook and enjoy music, but what I most enjoy is taking pictures of people living life."
Davis' photographs will be on view through Feb. 28 in the second-floor art gallery of the Afro-American Cultural Center, 211 Park St. Exhibition hours are 3-10 p.m., Monday-Friday, and by appointment on Saturday and Sunday.
-- By Susan Gonzalez
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