Your favourite Lee Friedlander books

I like Friedlander's work, and I was browsing some of his books online and was a bit overwhelmed by the number of publications.

Do you guys have any favourites or recommendations ?

I'm mostly interested in his BW work, the portraits (self-portraits a little less), nudes, car and travel pictures. Generally not a big fan of massive coffee table books

I like Factory Valleys. That is probably because the book came out when I was in graduate school. I recognized some familiar landmarks in the book and I recognized places that I had also photographed.

Lee Friedlander Photographs. New City, NY: Self-published / Haywire Press, 1978 was the first book that got me interested in Friedlander's work. I also really enjoyed The American Monument. New York: Eakins Press Foundation, 1976. ISBN 0-87130-043-5 which I used look at every Saturday in the Photographers Gallery in London until some swine bought it! - should have bought it myself (didn't have any money at the time) as it now costs over 2,500€ upwards.

The Desert Seen. New York: Distributed Art Publishers, 1996. ISBN 1-881616-75-4 made a very interesting change in direction (Ansel Adams on LSD as one critic described it). Lee Friedlander: Sticks and Stones: Architectural America. San Francisco: Fraenkel Gallery, 2004. ISBN 1-891024-97-3. By Friedlander and James Enyeart followed in this style but in the urban environment.

However, I find that there are now too many narrowly themed books coming out that I do not find anywhere near as interesting.

The best overview of his work (unfortunately a coffee table style of publication) is Friedlander, Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Peter Galassi. Afterword by Richard Benson.

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de

Nobody else out there who has an opinion? - strange!

David.
www.dsallen.de

I have L.F. 'Nudes' book, I love it, it is raw and refreshing.

David Allen said:

The best overview of his work (unfortunately a coffee table style of publication) is Friedlander, Published by The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Text by Peter Galassi. Afterword by Richard Benson.

Click to expand...

Thanks David, you know it was that video interview you posted that got me into a Friedlander book buying search

Gerry Badger wrote an interesting article about Friedlander. It deals a lot about him being a photographer in the sense of someone who discovers things through photography rather than the current academic approach where students have to develop projects that adhere to particular concepts or theories. You can read it here:

http://www.gerrybadger.com/out-of-the-cool-leefriedlander-at-the-victoria-and-albert-museum/

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de

One of the first photobooks I bought was Friedlander's 'American Musicians', photographs taken from the 50's through to the 70's while he was house photographer for Atlantic Records. It contains both B&W and colour. The thing that strikes me is the intimate, personal nature of the portraits. As record producer Joel Dorn rightly says in the intro - "His pictures not only defined those singers and musicians as artists for me, but as people." Worth a look.