Self-Portrait
1964/1969
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 12.7 x 19.4 cm (5 x 7 5/8 in.) mount: 35.6 x 27.9 cm (14 x 11 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.114
Art Historical Context
Lee Friedlander's *Self-Portrait* (4/1969) captures the artist's signature wit and ingenuity in a gelatin silver print, a classic-and-white photographic process that dominated mid-20th-century fine art photography for its rich tonal range and sharp detail. Measuring a modest 12.7 x 19.4 cm on a larger 35.6 x 27.9 cm mount, this work invites close viewing, much like Friedland street photography style, where everyday urban scenes become playgrounds for visual complexity. Friedlander, a key figure in American photography from the 1960s onward, often inserted himself into his images through refle...
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...