Lee Friedlander- Self Portraits

 

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    When looking through the various photographers whose work focused on self-portraits, I was most drawn to the work of Lee Friedlander. One thing that stood out to me most about Friedlander's work was that nearly all of his photographs are in black and white. Several of the other photographers had work featuring colors and vibrancy, while virtually all of Lee Friedlander's most recognized works have no color. While the majority of Friedlander's images have no color, he does utilize light in many of his photographs, which, in a sense, provides an aspect of color to his photography. The varying degrees of light in different areas of his photographs produce variations in the shades of black and white that his photos contain. The two Friedlander photos I selected above both incorporate light in the photograph that allows for variation in the colors seen in the images, despite them being in black and white. The areas in the photos illuminated by light appear whiter in color than the more shaded areas, which appear dark gray or black. 

   One of Lee Friedlander's portraits that I was most intrigued by, which I attached above on the right, depicts Friedlander's own portrait but in the form of a shadow. I chose this image since it questions the very definition of a self-portrait. This photo made me question what exactly makes an image a "self-portrait", as the photograph strays from the traditional concept of a self-portrait, which normally contains the entire face of an individual, where you can clearly see their facial features. This photograph completely disregards what is typically considered a self-portrait, only showing the shadow of the photographer's entire self. So while you can see the entire silhouette of Lee Friedlander, you cannot actually see the individual features or details of his face or body. This challenges the norms of a self-portrait, but still creates a dynamic self-portrait with more mystery than a "normal" self-portrait, which is what made this image so interesting to me. 

    I also chose to analyze Lee Friedlander's self-portrait, which I attached above on the left, because it directly contradicts his image on the right, as it follows a much more customary style of self-portrait. This photograph shows Friedlander's entire face clearly, so that all of his features can be easily identified and examined. This follows the very traditional idea of a self-portrait. What made this particular portrait so eye-catching to me was the small patch of light cutting across Friedlander's face in the image. Without this patch of light cutting through the center of the photograph and landing right in the center of the subject's face, this photo would likely be rather boring to look at. This minor detail of the light added depth to the photograph, as it was an added layer of detail that grabs a viewer's attention, and makes it different from an ordinary self-portrait.