Lee Friedlander facts for kids

Lee Friedlander (born July 14, 1934) is an American photographer and artist. In the 1960s and 1970s, he created a special way of taking pictures of cities. Many of his photos show parts of store windows, buildings seen through fences, posters, and street signs. He is known for using interesting ways to frame his pictures, often using nature or buildings to frame what he is photographing. Lee Friedlander has won many awards and his work has been shown in famous museums and galleries around the world. These include the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.

Early Life and Photography

Lee Friedlander was born in Aberdeen, Washington, on July 14, 1934. His mother was of Finnish descent and his father was a German-Jewish immigrant. His mother passed away when he was seven years old.

He started earning money from photography when he was only 14. At 18, he went to study photography at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. In 1956, he moved to New York City. There, he took pictures of jazz musicians for their album covers.

His early work was inspired by other famous photographers like Eugène Atget, Robert Frank, and Walker Evans. Friedlander is seen as someone who continued Atget's style of photography.

His Unique Style

Friedlander mainly used small, hand-held Leica 35 mm cameras and black-and-white film. His style focuses on what he calls the "social landscape." This means he captures everyday scenes of city life. His photos often show parts of urban areas, reflections in store windows, buildings framed by fences, and street signs. All these elements combine to show what "modern life" looked like.

Exhibitions and Recognition

In 1960, Friedlander received a Guggenheim Fellowship. This award helped him focus on his art. He received more grants in 1962 and 1977.

In 1963, he had his first solo exhibition at the George Eastman House. Later, in 1967, he was a key artist in the "New Documents" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He was featured alongside other important photographers like Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus.

His work was honored at the Rencontres d'Arles festival in France in 1973. In 1990, the MacArthur Foundation gave him a MacArthur Fellowship. This is a very special award for talented people.

In 2005, the Museum of Modern Art held a large show of Friedlander's work. It included almost 400 photographs from the 1950s until then. This show was also presented in 2008 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

In 2023, filmmaker Joel Coen helped put together an exhibition of 70 of Friedlander's photographs. These were shown in San Francisco and New York.

Later Work and Projects

When he suffered from arthritis and had to stay home, Friedlander focused on photographing his surroundings. His book Stems shows his life during the time he had knee replacement surgery. He said his "limbs" reminded him of plant stems.

Starting in 1988, Friedlander began a six-year project to photograph parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted was a famous landscape architect. Friedlander continued this project for 20 years in total. His series includes famous parks like New York City's Central Park and Brooklyn's Prospect Park.

For the 150th anniversary of Central Park's design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art showed Friedlander's photos of that park. A book called Photographs: Frederick Law Olmsted Landscapes was also published.

Today, Friedlander mainly uses medium format cameras, like the Hasselblad Superwide.

Personal Life

Lee Friedlander is known for being quite private. However, he did give an interview to The New York Times in April 2023, where he talked about his work.

He married his wife Maria in 1958. She has been the subject of many of his portraits. Their daughter Anna is married to photographer Thomas Roma. Their son Erik is a cellist and composer.

Awards and Honors

• 1960: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
• 1962: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
• 1977: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
• 1986: Edward MacDowell Medal, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH.
• 1990: MacArthur Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation.
• 2003: Special 150th Anniversary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) from the Royal Photographic Society.
• 2005: Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography from the Hasselblad Foundation.
• 2006: Infinity Award for Lifetime Achievement from the International Center of Photography, New York.
• 2018: Lifetime Achievement, Lucie Awards.

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

• 1963: Lee Friedlander, George Eastman House, curated by Nathan Lyons. This was his first solo show.
• 1986: Cherry Blossom Time in Japan, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York City.
• 1988: Lee Friedlander: Cray at Chippewa Falls, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York City.
• 1989: Like a One-Eyed Cat: Photographs by Lee Friedlander 1956–1987, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York City.
• 1991: Lee Friedlander: Work in Progress/Sonora Desert, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York City.
• 1993: Letters from the People: Photographs by Lee Friedlander, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal.
• 2005: Friedlander, Museum of Modern Art, New York City.
• 2008: Friedlander, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco.
• 2008: America by Car, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
• 2008: Lee Friedlander: A Ramble in Olmsted Parks, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Organized by Jeff L. Rosenheim.
• 2010: America by Car, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City.
• 2017: Lee Friedlander in Louisiana, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA.
• 2018: Lee Friedlander: American Musicians, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA.

Group Exhibitions

• 1966: Toward a Social Landscape, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. This show featured photos by Friedlander, Bruce Davidson, Danny Lyon, Duane Michals, and Garry Winogrand. It was put together by Nathan Lyons.
• 1967: New Documents, Museum of Modern Art, New York. With Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus, curated by John Szarkowski.
• 1996: Viewing Olmsted, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal. This exhibition included photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James.

See also

In Spanish: Lee Friedlander para niños