Saw some Friedlander this weekend - St. Louis

[5stringdeath]

The St. Louis Art Museum has a small exhibition of Friedlander prints up right now.

Some intersting things ... a couple of the prints are original (old) and some are 2006-08 reprints of street work. Interesting that he printed much smaller back then. Also interesting how consistent the new prints are to the originals, given exhibitions I've seen before.

Also some work from his (I guess) newest series ... shooting from rental cars as he travels about. Medium format work, but not square ... I thought he as using a Hassy these days.

Good stuff!

 

[Konical]

Good Afternoon, 5string,

Thanks for the information. Now I just have to decide whether a visit is worth the chance of having my car broken into while it's in Forest Park.

Konical

 

[Trask]

I saw a large Friedlander exhibit in Paris several years ago. I came away unimpressed, frankly -- pictures of bare bushes that were harshly printed, their only attribute that they were big. I saw little that made me think he deserved his reputation - a sort of the Emperor has no clothes thing. I'm glad others find value in his work, but I didn't. I'll take another look in 20 years when I'm 80 and see if I feel differently.

 

[5stringdeath]

I saw a large Friedlander exhibit in Paris several years ago. I came away unimpressed, frankly -- pictures of bare bushes that were harshly printed, their only attribute that they were big. I saw little that made me think he deserved his reputation - a sort of the Emperor has no clothes thing. I'm glad others find value in his work, but I didn't. I'll take another look in 20 years when I'm 80 and see if I feel differently.

You're speaking of his "The Desert Seen" work which, if I"m not mistaken, was his first major body of work done in medium format. I've only seen the book (I own it) and I'll agree its not my favorite of his portfolios. But if this is ALL you've ever seen of his ... then you're missing most of what he's about.

I read about his printing technique with that work as well, purposefully done very "harsh" to reflect that landscape and light. Again, not my favorite and not typical of his usual work. But I have nothing against artists trying new things, whether I feel its a success or not.

The new print in the exhibit I saw, the work done from the rental car, was beautiful and lush.

 

[Michael W]

It took me years to get Friedlander. He was one of the few major photographers where I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. Last year I borrowed from the library a couple of his books, one of portraits & the other was general 60s & 70s stuff & finally I started to appreciate his work & now I think he's great. He has a very particular way of seeing such that the photographs can end up looking like bland, uncomposed snapshots. That's how I used to look at them, but now I recognise how he was exploring the possibilities of how to fit stuff in a frame using a lens, similar to Winogrand in that era I suppose.