Appreciation of Lee Friedlander

DREW WILEY · Dec 30, 2025

Lots of pictures are already artificially unintelligent. Just be glad we're not the generation yet whose mental activity will be extended by centuries by having our brains floating in a saline aquarium connected by tubes and wires to some bizarre computer, just like back in some '50's black and white "B" horror movie. All the pictures by then will be imaginary - no need for cameras.

But if Polka music somehow lives on, at least our view cameras with their bellows might find a second life repurposed as accordions. Now that really would be awful to endlessly listen to piped into our saline submerged brains.

MattKing · Dec 30, 2025

DREW WILEY said:
Lots of pictures are already artificially unintelligent. Just be glad we're not the generation yet whose mental activity will be extended by centuries by having our brains floating in a saline aquarium connected by tubes and wires to some bizarre computer, just like back in some '50's black and white "B" horror movie. All the pictures by then will be imaginary - no need for cameras.

But if Polka music somehow lives on, at least our view cameras with their bellows might find a second life repurposed as accordions. Now that really would be awful to endlessly listen to piped into our saline submerged brains.

This kind of makes me want to look at more of Lee Friedlander's work .......

nikos79 · Dec 31, 2025

Alan Edward Klein said:
Pretty soon we'll all be automatically posting our thoughts using AI with automatic answers to other people's automatic AI posts. Then we all can go out and shoot pictures and let the forum go on on its own.

Some people are doing it already. Training models to respond like them in their own style and with their general thoughts and believes.

Would be fun to see some bots of me and koraks arguing

But I agree, this is a bit apocalyptic.

koraks · Dec 31, 2025

nikos79 said:
Would be fun to see some bots of me and koraks arguing

Maybe we already are and we've just not realized it yet.

nikos79 · Dec 31, 2025

koraks said:
Maybe we already are and we've just not realized it yet.

koraks · Dec 31, 2025

Moderator note: I've split off a post about the question whether AI can produce art into a thread of its own.

nikos79 · Dec 31, 2025

koraks said:
Moderator note: I've split off a post about the question whether AI can produce art into a thread of its own.

Nitroplait · Dec 31, 2025

Lee Friedlander Appreciation thread?

This thread is totally thrashed - how about a restart?

This is one of the most influential photographers of the second half of last century - I think he deserves better.

DREW WILEY · Dec 31, 2025

Oh I get it. You mean finding bigger pies to throw, since someone if so allegedly
"influential".

Nitroplait · Dec 31, 2025

DREW WILEY said:
Oh I get it. You mean finding bigger pies to throw, since someone if so allegedly
"influential".

I am not sure you do.
Appreciation thread - does it help?

warden · Dec 31, 2025

Nitroplait said:
Lee Friedlander Appreciation thread?

This thread is totally thrashed - how about a restart?

This is one of the most influential photographers of the second half of last century - I think he deserves better.

I really enjoy the "appreciation" threads, and thanks to @cliveh for starting many of them this year. This one is certainly an outlier though, and it started with post #1: "not my cup of tea - convince me otherwise" which is not the norm. Since the first post wasn't really an appreciation I suppose what followed was predictable.

These threads usually attract naysayers, but that's the internet for you. Even if appreciation was in all caps they just can't help themselves.

Arthurwg · Dec 31, 2025

At first I thought nikos79 was an AI bot, but now I think he's a Data Center.

Don_ih · Dec 31, 2025

Nitroplait said:
This is one of the most influential photographers of the second half of last century

Is he, though? I'm not saying that as a criticism of him but of the ability for people to appreciate him.

nikos79 · Dec 31, 2025

Arthurwg said:
At first I thought nikos79 was an AI bot, but now I think he's a Data Center.

Yes old-fashioned and grumpy

MattKing · Dec 31, 2025

Moderator hat on:
Perhaps we can stay a bit closer to the topic.
Whether you treat "appreciation" as being akin to "like", or "comprehend", or even "struggle to understand", it isn't necessary to post more than once that you don't think much of Lee Friedlander.
Discussions about who influenced him, and who might he have influenced are fine.

nikos79 · Wednesday at 5:03 PM

Lee Friedlander: Self-portrait

Pieter12 · Wednesday at 5:51 PM

nikos79 said:
Self-portrait

View attachment 415266

Maybe caption it correctly. It is not your self portrait, but Lee Friedlander, self-portrait. One of many.

nikos79 · Wednesday at 5:58 PM

Pieter12 said:
Maybe caption it correctly. It is not your self portrait, but Lee Friedlander, self-portrait. One of many.

Why would I post my self-portrait here?
But yes: Lee Friedlander, self-portrait. Thanks for the clarification!

MattKing · Wednesday at 6:07 PM

Fixed it for you.

DREW WILEY · Wednesday at 8:26 PM

Sure that isn't the portrait of a rapper called Corn E. ? It's certainly a corny picture, but probably deliberately so, very 60's.

Pieter12 · 2026-01-09T15:20:38-0500

Interestingly, I just watched a video of William Eggleston where he says he doesn't like other photographers work besides his own, with the exception of Lee Friedlander.

logan2z · 2026-01-09T15:24:18-0500

Pieter12 said:
Interestingly, I just watched a video of William Eggleston where he says he doesn't like other photographers work besides his own, with the exception of Lee Friedlander.

That's funny, I just watched the same video by Graeme Williams. Mr. Williams said that, besides his own work, Eggleston likes Friedlander and Robert Frank, but Eggleston only mentioned Friedlander in the clip.

Don_ih · 2026-01-09T15:39:01-0500

He likes Cartier-Bresson, too. He's ornery, though. He might like all kinds of things and lie for fun.

Arthurwg · 2026-01-09T17:23:11-0500

nikos79 said:
Lee Friedlander: Self-portrait

View attachment 415266

That was a VERY long time ago.

Pieter12 said:
Interestingly, I just watched a video of William Eggleston where he says he doesn't like other photographers work besides his own, with the exception of Lee Friedlander.

He was sorta like the William Burroughs of photography, guns et al.

Pieter12 · 2026-01-09T17:38:36-0500

Arthurwg said:
That was a VERY long time ago.

He was sorta like the William Burroughs of photography, guns et al.

Was?

Appreciation of Lee Friedlander

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