Self-Portrait
1964/1969
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 15.7 x 23.8 cm (6 3/16 x 9 3/8 in.) mount: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.156
Art Historical Context
Lee Friedlander’s *Selfrait* (1964/1969), a gelatin print measuring 15.7 x 23.8 cm, the artist’s wry introspection amid the visual clutter of mid-20th-century America. Created in 1964 and printed around 1969, this work belongs to Friedlander’s influential series of self-portraits, where he pioneered a street photography style blending documentary realism with formal experimentation. As a master of black-and-white gelatin silver printing—a medium prized for its luminous tonal range and fine detail—he transformed everyday urban scenes into multifaceted compositions. Friedlander, a pivotal figur...
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...