Lee Friedlander (b. 1934)

Lee Friedlander is acknowledged to be one of America's greatest photographers. His artistic genius is to structure scenes through the camera lens, playing what chief photography curator at the Museum of Modern Art, Peter Galassi, calls, "a double game of light and shadow, near and far, which Friedlander wins by knitting the opposing terms together in a riotous and irregular but articulate pattern, making a whole that pulsates with life." 

For nearly sixty years Friedlander has been photographing what he calls the "American social landscape,"  showing the world as the camera sees it (which is different from how the eye sees it).  With phenomenal mastery of his craft and often with dry wit, he has expanded the vocabulary of such traditional artistic themes as nudes, gardens, trees, self-portraits, landscapes, and cityscapes.  He has also pursued more unusual subjects such as factory workers, jazz musicians, cars, graffiti and signs.  In all his work he seems to be echoing Garry Winogrand's remark, "I photograph to find out what something will look like photographed."

Lee Friedlander was born in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1934.  Beginning in 1963 with an acclaimed one-man show at George Eastman House, he has had exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C.; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.  He is the recipient of numerous  awards and fellowships including a MacArthur Grant (1990) and the MacDowell Colony Award (1986). Friedlander's photographs have been widely exhibited and published.  They have also been the subject of over two dozen books including  Self-Portrait (Haywire Press, 1970),  Like A One-Eyed Cat (Harry N. Abrams, 1989),  Sticks and Stones: Architectural America (Fraenkel Gallery, 2004), Friedlander: The Museum of Modern Art, Lee Friedlander: New Mexico (Radius Books, 2008) America by Car (Fraenkel Gallery, 2010).

Liz Kay