In the Picture: Self-Portraits, 1958-2011

This is Friedlander's third book of self portraits--the first published by Haywire Press in 1970 (45 images), the second published in 2000 by Fraenkel Gallery (77 images)--but any fan of Friedlander (or any photographer) knows that there are more images that didn't make the early edits--there is never enough money or courage to do it right the first time around...This volume contains 376 images, all of them containing the image of Friedlander, his shadow, or his reflection. Considering how hard most photographers work to remove their own image from the picture (journalism tries to push the illusion that the photographer is an impartial observer), the presence of a shadow or a reflection is jarring. But even more unsettling is the way Friedlander presents himself--as himself--mostly boring, fat, and old (and sometimes a bit pig-headed)--the anti-hero of a non-movie.The flow of the book--from a young rake projecting his image onto women's bodies (often his lovely wife's, but sometime a cardboard cut-out), to a father and a grandfather enjoying the company of his family, to his failing body after heart surgery--but always surrounded by friends, always looking for the joke--makes us grateful that Friedlander has shared so much of his image with us.Anything worth doing is worth overdoing--and this book is worth having. Buy it while you can. Friedlander will not always be with us. But we can hope that he has a forth self portrait book yet to come--when he turns 90, three times bigger than this one...

Without doubt Lee Friedlander is the most talented street photographer of the entire genre. Nothing escapes him. I recently had the opportunity to view a group of about 40-50 photographs printed by the artist. Though I've been very much aware of him since the late 70's, that was the first time I'd been in the same room with his work. There wasn't a mediocre shot in the entire show. It was an amazing experience. At under $20, I recommend you pick up a copy while they are still available. I purchased two.

Lee Friedlander, more than any other photographer, makes the finest visual jazz. His work is witty and erudite, and astonishing in its endless variety. He is as prolific a printmaker as Picasso, and like Picasso seems to be immune to the limitations of age. "In the Picture", though, is rather disappointing as a whole. It starts with a sublime collection of Friedlander's 35mm self-portraits, but somewhere midway gets bogged down with an overweight series of the artist with (fill in the blank). Even with the captions, these pictures seem to blur into each other, and without the captions they are simply unremarkable. There are still lightning bolts here and there: in one eerie photograph Friedlander himself becomes the landscape and it is the shadow of his camera and tripod that seems to be animate. But this is a book that really deserved better editing. Slimmed down even by fifty pages or so it would gain some of the same energy as the marvelous "Family" published by Fraenkel in 2004.

Have bought several as gifts.

Haven't previously been a Friedlander fan, but that appears to be my fault for not trying. This book looks to have a narrow focus, but there's so much that fits in as far as thematic range, and with a page count this deep, there's a lot, lot, lot to look at. I, for one, am not complaining. I'm not the best person to speak to whether this book is a better example of Friedlander as far as the collection goes, but I have to comment on the printing, which is about as wonderful as I've ever seen. True matte printing, not one where the denser areas pick up shine, makes each page almost as satisfying as holding an actual print in one's hands. The book is being cleared out right now at $10 a pop. You'd be a fool to pass it up at this price.

I wish it weren't so but this book feels a little like both a invitation and a farewell (with a visual "LinkedIn, connected" like midsection that seems a little paunchy - photographer flanked by numbers of friends and cohorts as he stretches his arms, hands grasping the camera for the self portrait, looking as if to embrace the viewer into the occasion as well.) There is a bracketing sense of synopsis here that feels like what I might expect to experience at a wake yet without the maudlin and maybe with a beer or two. This self inquiry, this attempt at summary, is fragmentary, as it would have to be, of the artist's persona, of the creative impulse itself. Yet included is an informal call to partake, as if we've received an invitation to a warm, late Winter's dinner (if not a wake) with a friend we've known for as long as we can remember. Later, in the living room, we might even pull out the old photo albums.

Yes arrived in good time - very pleased with everything - Thank you

Da ich Lee Friedlanders Arbeit seit langem mag,konnte ich endlich dieses Buch zum Schnäppchenpreis ergattern. Ich liebe seine humorvollen und doch melancholische Fotos.

Consigliato a tutti gli appassionati di autoritratto. Immagini suggestive è mai banali: per gli amanti della Street Photography e non solo.

Quand un maître nous offre une telle quantité d’image, on ne peut qu’etre heureux.