Self-Portrait
1964/1969
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 15.1 x 23.7 cm (5 15/16 x 9 5/16 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
Trellis Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.60
Art Historical Context
Lee Friedlander's *Self-Portrait* (4/1969) is a quintessential example of the innovative American photographer's exploration of identity and perception.ured in 1964 and printed as a gelatin silver print in 1969, this intimate black-and-white image measures 15.1 x 23.7 cm on its sheet. Friedlander, born in 1934, rose to prominence in the postwar era alongside peers like Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus, pioneering a street photography style that embraced urban chaos, reflections, and fragmentation. Gelatin silver prints, the gold standard for mid-20th-century fine art photography, allowed for ri...
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...