21+ Lee Friedlander Quotes On Friendship, World And Documentary

Lee Friedlander is an American photographer known for his black and white street photography. He is often associated with the New Topographics movement, which focused on the changing urban landscape in the United States. Friedlander's work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the world. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Lee Friedlander on life, leadership, love.

Top 10 Lee Friedlander Quotes

1. I always wanted to be a photographer. I was fascinated with the materials, but I never dreamed I would be having this much fun. I imagined something much less elusive, much more mundane.
2. You don’t have to go looking for pictures. The material is generous. You go out and the pictures are staring at YOU.
3. The camera is not merely a reflecting pool and the photographs are not exactly the mirror, mirror on the wall that speaks with a twisted tongue.
4. At first, my presence in my photos was fascinating and disturbing. But as time passed and I was more a part of other ideas in my photos, I was able to add a giggle to those feelings.
5. ... a mysterious intersection of chance and attention that goes well beyond the existential surrealism of the 'decisive moment'.
6. I suspect it is for one's self-interest that one looks at one's surroundings and one's self. This search is personally born and is indeed my reason and motive for making photographs.
7. With a camera like that you don't believe you're in the masterpiece business. It's enough to be able to peck at the world.
8. I retired from everything except work.
9. The West to me is where the landscape is.
10. Photographs also show the way that the camera sees. It's not just me or you or anybody else. The camera does something that is different from our own setting.

Lee Friedlander Short Quotes

• The world makes up my pictures, not me.
• Photography is a generous medium.
• [Garry Winogrand] was a bull of a man and the world his china shop.
• Sometimes just the facts of the matter make it interesting.

Lee Friedlander Famous Quotes And Sayings

I only wanted Uncle Vernon standing by his own car (a Hudson) on a clear day, I got him and the car. Ialso got a bit of Aunt Mary’s laundry and Beau Jack, the dog, peeing on the fence, and a row of potted tuberous begonias on the porch and 78 trees and a million pebbles in the driveway and more. It’s a generous medium, photography. — Lee Friedlander

It fascinates me that there is a variety of feeling about what I do. I'm not a premeditative photographer. I see a picture and I make it. If I had a chance, I'd be out shooting all the time. You don't have to go looking for pictures. The material is generous. You go out and the pictures are staring at you. — Lee Friedlander

I take more to the subject than to my ideas about it. I am not interested in any idea I have had, the subject is so demanding and so important. — Lee Friedlander

When you take a picture you haven't a clue that it is going to be what it is. Maybe you have a clue but you don't really know. There are too many possibilities. Part of the game is how many balls you can juggle. It is to me. When you are 12 you can juggle two. Maybe when you are 50 you can juggle five. That is an interesting concept to me: how much I can put in and still make it pull together? — Lee Friedlander

If one really knew what one was doing, why do it? It seems to me if you had the answer why ask the question? The thing is there are so many questions. — Lee Friedlander

Anything that looks like an idea is probably just something that has accumulated, like dust. It looks like I have ideas because I do books that are all on the same subject. That is just because the pictures have piled up on that subject. Finally I realize that I am really interested in it. The pictures make me realize that I am interested in something. — Lee Friedlander

... photographs are so loaded with information. They're remarkable. As I said, you get both the tree and the forest. — Lee Friedlander

Life Lessons by Lee Friedlander

1. Lee Friedlander's work teaches us to appreciate the beauty of everyday life, no matter how mundane it may seem. He captures the unique moments and details of everyday life that often go unnoticed, encouraging us to look more closely at our surroundings.
2. Friedlander's work also emphasizes the importance of experimentation and play in photography. He often uses reflections and shadows to create interesting compositions, showing us that creativity can be found in even the most ordinary of scenes.
3. Lastly, Friedlander's work serves as an example of how to tell stories through photography. He captures the essence of a place or moment in time, allowing us to experience it in a way that words alone cannot.