Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait [Paperback]

Lee Friedlander (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 1998

Lee Friedlander's surreal sensibility is on full display in this set of photographs, originally published in 1970. Here Friedlander focuses on the role of his own physical presence in his images. He writes: "At first, my presence in my photos was fascinating and disturbing. But as time passed and I was more a part of other ideas in my photos, I was able to add a giggle to those feelings." Here readers can witness this progression as Friedlander appears in the form of his shadow, or reflected in windows and mirrors, and only occasionally fully visible through his own camera. In some photos he visibly struggles with the notion of self-portraiture, desultorily shooting himself in household mirrors and other reflective surfaces. Soon, though, he begins to toy with the pictures, almost teasingly inserting his shadow into them to amusing and provocative effect--elongated and trailing a group of women seen only from the knees down; cast and bent over a chair as if seated in it; mirroring the silhouette of someone walking down the street ahead of him; or falling on the desert ground, a large bush standing in for hair. These uncanny self-portraits evoke a surprisingly full landscape of the artist's life and mind. This reprint edition of Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait contains nearly 50 duotone images and an afterword by John Szarkowski, former Director of the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Lee Friedlander's surreal sensibility is on full display in this set of photographs, originally published in 1970. Here Friedlander focuses on how his physical presence impacts his photographs. Known for capturing subjects outside of himself--nudes, landscapes--Friedlander writes: "At first, my presence in my photos was fascinating and disturbing. But as time passed and I was more a part of other ideas in my photos, I was able to add a giggle to those feelings." Readers can witness this progression through the images here as Friedlander appears in shadow, reflected in windows and mirrors, and, only occasionally, fully visible through his own camera. In some photos he visibly struggles with the notion of self-portraiture, desultorily shooting himself in household mirrors and other reflective surfaces. Soon, though, he begins to toy with the pictures, almost teasingly inserting his shadow into them to amusing and provocative effect--elongated and trailing a group of women seen only from the knees down; cast and bent over a chair as if seated in it; mirroring the silhouette of someone walking down the street ahead of him; or falling on the desert ground, a large bush standing in for hair. These uncanny self-portraits evoke a surprisingly full landscape of the artist's life and mind. There are nearly 50 duotone images in this reprint edition of Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait, which includes a new essay about the work by writer John Szarkowski.

Review

Friedlander has created a dialogue between his own image and a wonderful array of his other subjects. -- Artforum, December 2000 –Walter Hopps

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Distributed Art Publishers (DAP); 2nd edition (May 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881616967
• ISBN-13: 978-1881616962
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,882,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Friedlander classic with new essay by John Szarkowski., July 13, 1998

By 

[e-mail] ((Keith Parker) Okinawa, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait (Paperback)

It is a pleasure to see this book back in print, originally published in 1970. With photographic book reprints, I am often disappointed with the poor quality of reproduction. However the halftones, done by Richard Benson, are superb. As a bonus, or a drawback as some might argue, is an essay by John Szarkowski. This essay at the end of the book, attempts to match Friedlander's photographic wit. He makes such statements as "If he was not Lee friedlander, he would not have been able to make these portraits." ?? Unfortunately, this essay does not attempt to elucidate on the photographs themselves but rather on the idea of artistic self-portraits and about the lengths Friedlander has gone to -- to avoid talking about his photographs. Szarkowski is at times amusing but is successful at keeping hidden the enigmas of Lee Friedlander.

The 1970 edition is one of the most difficult Friedlander book to find. Several years ago, I saw an out-of-print copy in fai! ! r condition, it cost $100 . At about 25 bucks, it is a classic and a bargain.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, January 24, 2008

By 

Alan W. (Seattle) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait (Hardcover)

I love this book, a collection of unusual self-portrait work by Lee Friedlander. Often he's only shown as a shadow, or reflection. In many cases, his use of his image is a clever and even humorous comment on the other elements within the photograph. Sometimes, you even must hunt for him.. "where's Lee now?". The book feels like a chronicle of his travels. If you're interested in creative self-portrait photography, or a fan of Freiedlander, then I think this book really is a must-have.

The book is some 54 pages long, with a foreward by the artist and an afterward by John Szarkowski. The majority of the book's pages are, of course, photographs, with the opposing pages empty except for the page number, place where the image was taken, and finally the year shot. The print quality of the images is truly wonderful, and the paper itself is nice, thick and crisp. It is a black cloth hardbound book, with a quality matte slipcover.

Beautiful. Recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pictures not words, December 5, 2001

By 

Stuart Murdoch "everything in photography is ... (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lee Friedlander: Self Portrait (Paperback)

This book is an insightful look at Lee Freidlander's images of Lee Freidlander, I cannot review this book without bias, as I have always been a big fan of Mr Freidlanders work. GREAT BOOK!