Bruce Gilden photographs the powerful women of Wall Street for Vice

“I’m known for taking pictures very close,” photographer Bruce Gilden’s website proclaims, “and the older I get, the closer I get.” He’s not lying – famous for street photography made using a flashgun, his work is unashamedly intrusive, searingly honest, and incredibly effective. Which made him a perfect selection by Vice to shoot the Women of Wall Street series for their Wall Street issue. The photographs he took of New York’s most powerful women show up every pore, every burst capillary, every clump of mascara and every split end, and they’re oddly vilifying for it. No matter how much you want to root for the under-represented women holding their own in an environment where 80% of executives are running almost entirely on caffeine and testosterone, Bruce manages to depict them as alien warriors about to step into battle.