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Friedlander @ Cleveland Museum of Art 3/13 Lee Friedlander shows us the view from his lens, without the polish of tradition and expectation. His view is no less purposed, but much more surprising. He plans what appear to be accidents, such as a pole cutting the subject in half, a reflection on the glass window giving a new meaning to the subject behind the window or a mirror obliterating the subject behind it, but giving us a glimpse backward. And of course, this man who worked alone had to keep himself company – often inserting his seemingly accidental shadow or reflection in just the right spot in the composition, something most photographers often try to avoid.

This extensive exhibit of 350, mostly black and white photos is presented as a serpentine timeline, progressing from photos of jazz musicians in the 1950s and culminating in the large-format images of the American west, some of which were taken earlier in this century. The display begins with a photo of Lee Friedlander taken by Richard Avedon, which is ironic because Freidlander put himself into so many of his photographs with shadows, reflections and even having taken many self portraits, and yet this striking image of him is not taken by him.

The only color images on display are a series of close-up faces of jazz musicians from the 1950s, among them are Aretha Franklin and Miles Davis. The striking colors and tight angles tell us of the daring straightforward attitude of the jazz scene at the time. A collection of black and white images shows us the day to day life of the jazz musician, such as a bus full of sleeping band members, Count Basie practicing back stage, etc. This grouping takes off the stage lights and make up, looking into the tedium and complacency of the subjects' day to day life.

The streetscapes portrayed throughout the 1950s and 60s are a play on reflection and juxtaposition. These layered images are impressive from our current perspective of being able manipulate any image or combine images using electronic tools, like Photoshop. All his layers of subjects, environments, reflections and shadows are the real deal. These images are what Freidlander saw through his lens, without photo-manipulation after the fact. In this era of contrived authenticity, these genuine articles are appreciated so much more.

Rather than view each photo in this extensive collection individually, the value of his efforts can be appreciated even more by viewing each grouping of photos as one whole. The photographs are grouped by what they have in common, which is unique, because they were taken all over the United States, sometimes years apart as well, but the common elements, themes or over-all tones within the groupings give them a relevance they would not have if they were viewed by themselves.

One particularly extensive grouping called Letters to the People takes up an entire wall in the gallery. These close-cropped images of letters and numbers, sometimes individually or short excerpts, stagger across the wall, seemingly directionless, but are held together by their common subject matter.

In the 1970s Friedlander seemed to focus on working people and work places, some of the images were taken in factories and offices in the Cleveland area.

In the late 1990s this photographer got a new camera with a square aspect ratio and a larger format, with which he could now view the world in a whole new way. It is with this new camera and viewpoint that Friedlander took on the American west. The show culminates in these dramatic groupings of nature photographs. In some of the groupings the trees and foliage are reduced the textures, with a clear, bright light that seems other worldly.

The final series are crisp mountain scenes with exquisite water reflections. Although Friedlander still had to insert his quirky tricks, like the odd angles of the mountains and rivers in the reflections that make you stop and contemplate where the reflection ends and the subjects starts, or is the other way around?

On display through May, you'll want to take time with this exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Contemplate what makes each grouping work as whole, where is Friedlander hiding in this photo, or figure out if that object is part of the reflection or in the forground. Discretion is advised, one grouping of photos of nudes may be objectionable to some audiences. Click here for more information on the exhbition.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Carol Drummond carolATdrummondesign.com

Learn more about Drummond at http://www.drummondesign.com
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