Lee Friedlander
1934–
Lee Friedlander developed a passion for photography and jazz as a teenager in the Pacific Northwest. After high school he spent several years in Los Angeles before moving to New York, where he worked from 1955 until the early 1970s as a freelance photographer, traveling and shooting primarily for magazines and the burgeoning record industry. During that time he also produced an independent body of work—a reflection of what he has called the “American social landscape”— that has made him one of the most influential photographers of his generation.
Photographing people, objects, streets, and the landscapes around him, Friedlander often shoots without a preconceived project in mind, later compiling his photographs into books. Among the forty or so such volumes produced thus far, five have been devoted to self-portraits, some of them disarmingly direct and others, such as Colorado, Self-Portrait with JFK, notably incorporating only his shadow or reflection. Here, as in many works by Friedlander, it is the unexpected that is most compelling. Friedlander includes subtly disparate and surprising elements in his light-infused, black-and-white photographs. The clarity and directness of his images are reminiscent of Eugène Atget and Walker Evans, and the cool frankness and ironic touch of humor call to mind a Pop aesthetic. Yet it is Friedlander’s distinctly personal vision—a rare blend of nonchalance, keen observation, and wit—that makes his work remarkable.
Introduction
Born 14 July 1934. From 1953 to 1955, Friedlander studied photography with Edward Kaminski at the Art Center School, Los Angeles, California. Friedlander has been a freelance photographer since 1955. In 1979-1980, Friedlander was commissioned by the Akron Art Museum to document the industrial area of the Ohio River Valley in Ohio and Pennsylvania. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2005.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, photographer
ULAN identifier
500014327
Names
Lee Friedlander, Friedlander Lee Norman, Lee Norman Friedlander
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed December 23, 2025.
