Maria

Présentation

Lee Friedlander: Maria presents a seven-decade portrait of the artist’s wife, in photographs made between the 1950s and the 2020s. Accompanying the exhibition is a new hardcover book published by Fraenkel Gallery, tracing Friedlander’s inimitable style through more than 70 tender and surprising photographs. In the book, Jeffrey Fraenkel talks with Maria Friedlander about her experience as a partner and subject, and the challenges and triumphs of building a life with an artist. Highlights from the interview are below.

Taos, New Mexico , 1958

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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Taos, New Mexico , 1958

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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Taos, New Mexico , 1958

gelatin silver print , 18-1/2 x 14-1/2 inches (framed) [47 x 36.8 cm]

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Lee Friedlander Taos, New Mexico

1958

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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Jeffrey Fraenkel: So just to start, can you give us a little introduction about how you and Lee met?

Maria Friedlander: I was working as an assistant at Sports Illustrated magazine, and photographers would come and go. I met Garry [Winogrand] and others. And one day Lee came in and was looking for my boss, but he wasn’t around. So I said, You could wait or you could come back another time. So he sat and waited—he had pictures to show—and we chatted and talked, and then he left. And that weekend I got a call from Lee asking me to go with him to [the New York jazz club] Birdland to hear Count Basie. And I went and—it never stopped.

New York City , 1966

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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New York City , 1966

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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New York City , 1966

gelatin silver print , 14-1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (framed) [36.8 x 47 cm]

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Lee Friedlander New York City

1966

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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JF: You said a lot of photographers came in. When Lee came in, was there a little electricity between you, would you say?

MF: I looked at him and I liked his height and he wore nice clothes [laughter]—a nice jacket—and he was cute.

Maria, New York City , 1959

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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Maria, New York City , 1959

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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Maria, New York City , 1959

gelatin silver print , 14-1/2 x 17-1/2 inches (framed) [36.8 x 44.5 cm]

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Lee Friedlander Maria, New York City

1959

gelatin silver print , 14 x 11 inches (sheet) [35.6 x 27.9 cm]

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“I was an assistant to the color editor [at Sports Illustrated]. I did research, I typed. Women weren’t permitted to write at that time, so we mostly did research. And because I could translate Italian and French, I did that, from newspapers that came from abroad.”

Maria Friedlander

JF: When you and Lee married, what sort of role did you think photography would play in the relationship? Did you think Lee would be able to support you and the family with his photography?

MF: Yes. I thought he would go out on assignments, which is primarily what I saw him doing. You know, he’d get a call, “Go shoot this or shoot that”—a rodeo or a football game. You know… we were careful with funds. And I thought that care, and the fact that Lee always worked, would see us through. I had no idea what would happen.

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JF: Did he strike you as just a hard worker or as a better-than-average photographer? Did you think he was any different from most of the photographers at the time?

MF: At the time, I wasn’t sure about his photography, except that people kept saying he was a man of talent…

Maria, Southwestern United States , 1969

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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Maria, Southwestern United States , 1969

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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Maria, Southwestern United States , 1969

gelatin silver print , 14-1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (framed) [36.8 x 47 cm]

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Lee Friedlander Maria, Southwestern United States

1969

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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JF: So there was no conception then of Lee making prints that people would ever want to buy?

MF: He made prints that suited him that he put aside, but not to sell. There was no reason to think they would sell.

JF: Photography at the time was basically for magazines and the printed page.

MF: I would say so, except that every once in a while you’d hear Walker Evans come into the office and say, “This is damn good.”

Maria, New City, New York , 1979

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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Maria, New City, New York , 1979

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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Maria, New City, New York , 1979

gelatin silver print , 14-1/2 x 18-1/2 inches (framed) [36.8 x 47 cm]

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Lee Friedlander Maria, New City, New York

1979

gelatin silver print , 11 x 14 inches (sheet) [27.9 x 35.6 cm]

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JF: When Lee went to the darkroom and made new pictures, did he often call you to come do