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Lee Friedlander

Friedlander's photographs were focused on "social landscape". They're black and white, many photos focus on signs and people (some focusing on shadow and buildings). Friedlander shows everyday people and places and explores what makes them art.

His photos played a lot with light and shadows, in fact, many of his photographs centre around actual shadows. However, one of the most common technical themes he's done is using reflection. For instance he uses mirrors, windows, anything reflective.

Friedlander was homebound at one point from arthritis, from that experience he was able to create a new narrative; by mainly focusing on his surroundings. He also liked to show the everyday conventional things (like people, and signs) and captured them, creating a beautiful picture out of the seemingly "ordinary".

“Maria, New York City,” 1959.

Anna, Maria, & Erik, New York City,” 1980.

Vivian Maier

Vivian photographed thousands of images throughout her life, so giving her just one category is hard, but if I was to describe what sort of photos she took; I would starts by saying she took photos of America, ones that told an almost catalog like narrative. She took photos of demolitions, historic landmarks, people and their daily lives, many well known sites in Chicago and later on in her life she took lots of photos of objects. 

Vivian Maier struggled financially, often she was unable to afford to develop her photographs. What Vivian was able to do, with limited money, was capture the faces of everyday people. Working with positioning them in a pleasing way even in everyday spontaneous settings. She was able to create a story in many of her photographs by using angle, props (positioning things people had) and contrast of the lighting.

Maier captured everyday people, that's what most of her photos depict, bringing meaning and a spotlight to their lives in each photo.

Vivian Maier: Untitled, New York. (The Maloof Collection, courtesy Lumière)

Vivian Maier: Untitled, New York, circa 1951-55.

                                           (Courtesy of Jackson Fine Art and the Jeffrey Goldstein Collection)