Jill Freedman

April 28, 2008 12:16 PM

Influenced by the Modernist documentarian André Kertész, with references to the hard-edged, black-and-white works of Weegee and Diane Arbus, this self-taught photographer captured raw and intimate images, and transformed urban scenes into theatrical dramas. More photos at jillfreedman.com.
posted by Armitage Shanks (10 comments total)

Well, now I'm a fan.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:36 PM on April 28

Very interesting. I'd never heard of her, but I'm blown away.

This surprised me:

Despite praise from critics, Ms. Freedman's career as a photojournalist never fulfilled its early promise. "Her work influenced a lot of people," said Andy Grundberg, chairman of photography at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington. But he added that "her style really fell out of fashion" as people grew less interested in her brand of documentary photography, in which an emotional connection with the subject is valued as much as the photograph.

Although I'm aware that tastes change, I'm surprised that really good documentary photography — and hers seems pretty good — would ever fall out of style; it seems like there's always a market for and an interest in it. I wonder what happened.
posted by Kadin2048 at 12:37 PM on April 28

I'd never heard of her, but I'm blown away.

Me neither, but I recognized Love Kills and Lunch At Tiffany's. There's a review of her work in the Times from 1982, (" As it is, one leaves the exhibition unsure of whose side she is on.", WTF?) but she disappeared for a long time. She posted a comment in this blog entry from 2004 where people were wondering what happened to her.

And I would love to see a higher res version of this picture...
posted by Armitage Shanks at 1:00 PM on April 28

" As it is, one leaves the exhibition unsure of whose side she is on.", WTF?

From the article: “When I saw that they had turned 42nd Street into Disneyland,” she said, “I just stood there and wept.”

On one hand, yes, Disneyfication sucks for all kinds of reasons, and is worth crying over; on the other hand, abject poverty is a whole lot worse, and shouldn't be expected to stick around simply for the benefit of documentary photographers looking to capture "beauty in squalor."

I love Freedman's work, though.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:18 PM on April 28

She has some awesome photos. I hadn't heard of her till today either.
posted by chunking express at 1:31 PM on April 28

Great work. Thanks for posting this.
posted by Outlawyr at 2:00 PM on April 28

This is wonderful. I keep trying to say something smart about it, but what's really great is the way the best of her images capture something inexpressible in words.

I look at the elephant climbing into the truck (or the two girls jumping rope, or the guy playing the trombone as the sun rises, or....) and it's dead obvious that it means something clear and specific. It's only when I start trying to say what it means that I realize the words don't exist.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:30 PM on April 28

Wonderful photographs. Thanks.
posted by carter at 3:33 PM on April 28

Man, she beats Lee Friedlander and Larry Fink at their own game. Remarkable work. Goes way beyond "photojournalism."
posted by Faze at 4:01 PM on April 28

That elephant photo is remarkable. Looks like the elephant doesn't actually fit inside that truck.
posted by lostburner at 8:23 PM on April 28