Lee Friedlander: Signs

Since the early 1960s, Friedlander has focused on the signs that inscribe the American landscape, from hand-lettered ads to storefront windows to massive billboards. Depicting these texts with precision and sly humor, Friedlander’s approach to America transcribes a sort of found poetry of commerce and desire.

Black and white photograph of a rural two story building with the word 'eat' in large white letters on its roof.

Black-and-white photograph showing detail of a sign with the text open pizza

Black-and-white photograph of a man and a monkey sitting in front of a store with advertisements in the background

Black and white photograph of a hand painted sign with the text reading "dancing"

Black-and-white photograph of a Coca Cola sign and paintings of Jesus

Black-and-white photograph of two women standing in a doorway of a building covered in boxing advertisements

Black-and-white photograph of a street sign and a building with the text camera man painted on the side

Black-and-white photograph of a basket ball playing chicken attraction

Black-and-white photograph of an old weathered neon sign shaped like a cowboy hat with an arrow pointing right

Black-and-white photograph of a storefront with all caps text everything must go!

Black-and-white photograph of a man walking in in front of a storefront covered in hand painted signs advertising the prices of products

Black-and-white photograph of roadside sign missing letters with a police car speeding in the background and a cloudy sky

Black-and-white photograph of the side of a building with a hand painted sign of a woman holding a cocktail

View all

Lee Friedlander: Signs

Lee FriedlanderStanzel, Iowa

1961

gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 inches (sheet) [40.64 x 50.8 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew Haven, Connecticut

1980

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderDallas

1976

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew Mexico

2008

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderWestern Canada

1974

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderAtlantic City, New Jersey

1969

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderMontana

1970

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

2013

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1960

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew Mexico

1990

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderCalifornia

1965

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

View all

Related Portfolios

Black and white photographs of two women in sunglasses taking photographs on a city street

Lee Friedlander: The People’s Pictures

View all

Lee Friedlander: The People’s Pictures

Black and white photograph of a person taking a family photograph in front of a life-size dinosaur statue — Lee Friedlander, Rapid City, South Dakota, 1969

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

Black and white photograph of two women taking photographs on a city sidewalk — Lee Friedlander, Paris, France, 1964

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

Black and white photograph of tourists having their photograph taken in front of a valley — Lee Friedlander, Canadian Rockies, Canada, 1974

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

Black and white photograph of a young girl taking a photograph in a living room — Lee Friedlander, Fort Lee, New Jersey, 1971

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

Black and white photograph of a man in a crowd holding a camera to his eye — Lee Friedlander, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1991

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

Black and white photograph of three young women in front of a stone memorial taking a photograph — Lee Friedlander, Washington, D.C., 1988

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

Black and white photograph of a man holding a camera in an art gallery — Lee Friedlander, David Hockney, New York City, 1974

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

Black and white photograph of a woman taking a photograph of a man performing on a city corner — Lee Friedlander, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1970

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

Lee FriedlanderNew Orleans

1970

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderRapid City, South Dakota

1969

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderParis, France

1964

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderCanadian Rockies, Canada

1974

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderFort Lee, New Jersey

1971

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew Orleans, Louisiana

1991

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderWashington, D.C.

1988

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderDavid Hockney, New York City

1974

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew Orleans, Louisiana

1970

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Black-and-white photograph of a man and woman entering and exiting a building with their faces obscured by doors

Lee Friedlander: The Street

View all

Lee Friedlander: The Street

Friedlander’s street is a metaphor for the American social landscape. Flattening a dynamic space into a photographic image, people and objects are reflected in windows and mirrors, framed by lamp posts and doors, creating new relationships and narratives.

Black-and-white photograph of a man in a suit standing in the street in front of a. building with a question mark painted on it — Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1962

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

Black-and-white photograph of a city street with a telephone pole in the center — Lee Friedlander, Kansas City, Missouri, 1965

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

Black-and-white photograph of cut outs of a man and woman taped in a window with palm trees in the reflection — Lee Friedlander, Los Angeles, 1965

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

Black-and-white photograph of a man with laying his head on a table through the window of a storefront — Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1964

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

Black-and-white photograph of a woman standing behind a glass door — Lee Friedlander, Baltimore, 1968

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

Black-and-white photograph of a man and woman looking out of the frame with binoculars with reflections in the glass wall behind them — Lee Friedlander, Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, 1969

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

Black-and-white photograph of JFK on screen at a drive in theater — Lee Friedlander, Monsey, N.Y., 1963

gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 inches (sheet) [40.6 x 50.8 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a man looking out the window of an ice cream parlour — Lee Friedlander, Newark, N.J., 1962

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

Black-and-white photograph of the shadow of a persons head on the back of a woman — Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1966

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

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderKansas City, Missouri

1965

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderLos Angeles

1965

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1964

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderBaltimore

1968

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderMt. Rushmore, South Dakota

1969

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderMonsey, N.Y.

1963

gelatin silver print, 16 x 20 inches (sheet) [40.6 x 50.8 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNewark, N.J.

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNew York City

1966

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Black-and-white photograph of a television with a woman's face onscreen on top of a bureau

Lee Friedlander: The Little Screens

View all

Lee Friedlander: The Little Screens

Friedlander’s 1960s photographs show television screens in motel rooms and other anonymous spaces, transmitting images of pop icons, political figures, or minor celebrities. Called by Walker Evans “deft, witty, spanking little poems of hate,” the images reveal an emerging reality—the omnipresence of screens and the drone of television voices in an increasingly isolationist culture.

Black-and-white photograph of a neatly made bed and a television with a mans face on screen — Lee Friedlander, Baltimore, 1962

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

Black-and-white photograph of a television with an up close image of a womans face on screen — Lee Friedlander, Florida, 1963

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

Black-and-white photograph of a television with figures on screen, a reflection in a door mirror, and a toilet — Lee Friedlander, Nashville, 1963

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

Black-and-white photograph of the bottom edge of a bed and a television with a childs face on screen — Lee Friedlander, Galax, Virginia, 1962

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

Black-and-white photograph of a television with a laughing face on screen and a shirt hanging from an open door — Lee Friedlander, Nashville, 1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a television with a crying face on screen and a shirt hanging from an open door — Lee Friedlander, Nashville, 1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a television with a motorcyclist on screen and a radiator — Lee Friedlander, Florida, 1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

Black-and-white photograph of a television with an FBI wanted poster on screen and a taxidermy moose head on the wall in the background — Lee Friedlander, Nashville, 1963

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

Black-and-white photograph of room with a lamp a chair and a television with a close up of an eye on screen — Lee Friedlander, Washington, D.C., 1962

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

Lee FriedlanderPortland, Maine

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Name
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderBaltimore

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderFlorida

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNashville

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderGalax, Virginia

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNashville

1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNashville

1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Comments
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderFlorida

1963

gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches (sheet) [50.8 x 40.6 cm]

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderNashville

1963

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Phone
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lee FriedlanderWashington, D.C.

1962

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

First name*
Last name*
Email address*
Comments
Email
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Black-and-white photograph of rock formations and their reflection in a body of water

Lee Friedlander: Landscapes

View all

Lee Friedlander: Landscapes

The landscape—especially the extravagantly varied landscape of the American West—has been a recurring subject for Friedlander.The artist frequently employs flash, even in daylight, to meld foreground and background. The resulting densely layered compositions draw the viewer into idiosyncratic qualities of the terrain.