Finally!

Lee Friedlander, from Self-Portrait

I finally got to view a large number of Friedlander prints in person last weekend during a quick stop in San Francisco…and what a treat. My first stop was at the Fraenkel Gallery, on Geary Street. This gallery has published a good number of Friedlander’s most recent books, and is the home of “America By Car,” a series of photographs Friedlander has made with his Hasselblad Superwide from the insides of rented cars throughout the country. Friedlander continues to be as inventive and creative as ever, and there are a number of treats in this exhibit. One particular photograph that surprised me shows a view out of the passenger’s side door. It’s very bright outside relative to the inside of the car. But also visible in the picture is Friedlander’s face looking back at you in the side view mirror. And to make his face visible, he had mounted a flash to his camera and rotated it 180 degrees, so that it was pointing back inside the car, to illuminate himself. It was a very innovative picture. I was told by gallery staff that a book of this work would be available in about a year, and that Friedlander is still producing photographs for this series. I eagerly await its publication.

My next stop was right down the hall, at the Scott Nichols Gallery, to see some Brett Weston prints. I saw several of his signature works, including two from Oregon that I’ve long wished to see in person. They were nothing less than stunning. The blackest blacks, the creamy whites, and all tones in between were a real gift to see. I’m very thankful that these two shows were hanging simultaneously.

My final stop for print viewing was at the huge Friedlander retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. There are purported to be a few hundred prints on display, and I believe it. This show had prints from nearly every phase of Friedlander’s career on exhibit, including some very recent fashion photographs from 2006. I was somewhat taken aback by seeing Friedlander’s prints large. I had never seen them outside of his books, and his big Hasselblad pictures were surprising, but in a good way. My only regret after viewing this show was that there weren’t any photographs on display from his Apples and Olives book from 2005. That book seems to exhaust me every time I look at it. The pictures are just so complex, so enthralling, that I get tired when looking at it.

The man is a creative genius.

Inspired and motivated, I made a significant number of negatives of my own after seeing these shows. I made it from Embarcadero to Golden Gate Park, and most points in between, including Haight and Ashbury. It wasn't until after I was there that I realized I was in the Haight district on 4/20. Nice.