Lee Freidlander

Lee Friedlander Cincinnati, Ohio (Bed in Window) 1963
gelatin silver print, 9 x 6 inches
Courtesy Sotheby's, New York 

A street scene is reflected on a furniture shop; a bed in the middle, cupboards,lamps, gadgets on the front with darker depths of the street reflected on the shop's wall. The outside scene meticulously blends with the inside setting, creating an almost surreal landscape. 

Blurring the boundary of real happenings and imagined happenings. 

I started photographing a group of friends at a time. The more I looked through the photographs I took; more I noticed the occasional still life photographs in some shoots.  What was I thinking when I took those photographs? They were different than other “portraits” and “snapshots” taken from the same shoot, There is somehow some narration in the “still life” photographs because of how detached it looks. It is an observer’s view. Another way of narrating a photograph was journals or notes with the photographs. I started with describing the happenings of the day the photographs were taken as much as I could recall. Later, as I went along relating what had happened in the shoots, the still life shoots had no fix “reason?” as they were decisive moment photographs with no connections remembered. Almost like a “subconscious” decision to photograph.The images that I have taken over the course of this project are documentary and are very real at the time of their capture but sometimes I look back on these images and they feel like a fictional world. The subjects of the photos are of a wide spectrum of close friends, ex-friends and strangers who I meet in fleeting moments or simply capture on my camera. They belong to my collection to my image bank of people. The strangers don’t pose as they do not know I am taking them, I revel in the moment that I capture an interesting gesture, humorous juxtapositions, drama or simply enjoying a tranquil moment.’ The friends’ on the other hand cannot help but pose, they act up to the camera as soon as I take in into the social scene so it becomes a game, I try to capture them when they are not looking or even when they are asleep. I think of Nan Goldin and how her friends allowed her in, they gave her complete trust and access to their lives. Nan took full advantage of this but also exposed herself in the same way to show her vulnerabilities.The technology that I have used for this is totally analogue because I want to feel the excitement of the unexpected. I have experimented with alternative techniques when developing the film; sometimes it works other times it is totally disastrous but each time the anticipation and unexpected surprises make it worthwhile. This has become an important aesthetic that I have used throughout the project and has unified the strangers and friends through the ‘surprises’ in my processing.  Nan Goldin also has a distinctive aesthetic in her documentary photo essays. In her photo essay ‘The Ballad of a Sexual Dependency’ used a yellow hue through the series. Nan Goldin uses artificial light which creates a yellow hue in her images and defines these images which are instantly recognisable with this series. Although Goldin’s subjects are evidently aware of the presence of her camera, some looking directly towards but not really acting up for it.

While photographing my subjects, I realised the surroundings caught my eye too so I started photographing my subjects along with the still life from the surroundings. The still life from the surroundings carried a different aesthetic to the way I photographed my subjects. Wolfgang Tillman’s photographs have a wide range of subjects, from posed portraits to mundane settings such as flowers and vases on windowsills. 
Unlike Nan Goldin, who photographed moments as it was, Tillmans photographed “posed” portraits made to look spontaneous and casual.  These two different approaches both artists have have similarities as both artists are documenting and creating narratives. 
The idea of narration inspired me and I decided to use contact sheets as a “comic strip” style story to create a narrative. 
In waiting for Safal, I created a contact sheet to narrate my wait for my friend Safal when he went out. When he came back, I photographed him.  This casual wait was narrated in the contact sheet, as a comic strip style story. 
Throughout the presentation of my work in the sketchbook, I have used contact sheet as a view to bigger picture. I think contact sheets show more of what was going on while the photographs were being taken, especially portraits. Contact sheets feel like memories in clusters, maybe a collective observer’s perspective?