Sonora
1993
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 37.8 x 37.8 cm (14 7/8 x 14 7/8 in.) sheet: 50.3 x 40.6 cm (19 13/16 x 16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.384
Art Historical Context
**Sonora**, a captivating 1993 gelatin silver by Lee Friedlander, a perfect square of 37.8 x 37.8 cm, inviting viewers into the artist's masterful gaze on the American landscape. Friedlander, pivotal figure in post-war American photography, rose to prominence in the 1960s contemporaries like Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus. His work often transforms everyday scenes into intricate visual puzzles, layering foreground elements with distant vistas to challenge perceptions of space and reality. The gelatin silver print medium, a hallmark of 20th-century black-and-white photography, delivers Friedl...
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...