Fort Lee, New Jersey
1972
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 17.5 x 26.4 cm (6 7/8 x 10 3/8 in.) sheet: 27.8 x 35.2 cm (10 15/16 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Robert B. Menschel Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.296
Art Historical Context
**Fort Lee, New Jersey, 1972** Lee Friedlander’s *Fort Lee, New Jersey* captures the everyday grit of mid-20th-century America through his signature street photography. Shot in 1972, this gelatin silver print reflects the transitional era following the social upheavals of the 1960s, when photographers like Friedlander—part of the influential New York School—turned their lenses on the unvarnished urban and suburban landscapes. Fort Lee, just across the Hudson from Manhattan and once a hub for early Hollywood filmmaking, provided a fitting backdrop for Friedlander’s exploration of America’s bu...
About the Artist
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander, born on July 14, 1934, in Aberdeen, Washington, to a Finnish-descended mother, Kaari Nurmi, and German-Jewish émigré father, Fritz Friedlander, discovered photography at age 14 amid a fascination with the medium's equipment. Tragedy marked his childhood when his mother died of cancer at age seven, yet he pursued his passion, earning pocket money with a camera before studying under...