New York City
1963
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 18.3 x 27.4 cm (7 3/16 x 10 13/16 in.) sheet: 27.9 x 35.3 cm (11 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Lee Friedlander
Accession Number
2001.8.6
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant chaos of 1960s New York with Lee Friedlander's *New York City* (1963), a silver print that captures the artist's signature street photography style. Friedlander, a pioneering figure in American photography, was renowned for his complex, multifaceted compositions that embraced urban clutter—reflections in glass storefronts, overlapping signs,, and fleeting human figures. This 7 3/16 x 10 13/16-inch image exemplifies his "social landscape" approach, turning the city's visual cacophony into a layered tapestry of modern life. Created during a transformative era of postwar ur...
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...