Bowdoin College Museum of Art

• Friedlander, Lee Norman
• (Aberdeen, WA, 1934 - )
• New York City, 1966,
• 1970
• 7 3/8 in. x 11 1/16 in. (18.73 cm. x 28.1 cm.)
• gelatin silver print on paper
• 1998.11

Lee Friedlander along with Garry Winogrand and Diane Arbus was a protégé of John Szarkowski, former curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art. Using the works of these three photographers as examples, Szarkowski argued for a new, “distinctly American” photographic style based on the “snapshot” aesthetic. New York City, 1966, an early work by Friedlander, is an example of the kind of work Szarkowski was referring to when making his argument. The shadow of Friedlander’s head is cast on the back of a woman walking down the street wearing a fur coat as he follows her to take the picture. The photograph becomes, in essence, a joke on him and is a humorous if self-conscious play on notions of street photography.