Lee Friedlander: Sticks And Stones: Architectural America 
asked by nat on November 3, 2006 12:10 AM
In Sticks & Stones, Lee Friedlander offers his view of America as seen through its architecture. In 192 square-format pictures shot over the past 15 years, Friedlander has framed the familiar through his own unique way of seeing the world. Whether he's representing modest vernacular buildings or monumental skyscrapers, Friedlander liberates them from our preconceived notions and gives us a new way of looking at our surrounding environment. Shot during the course of countless trips to urban and rural areas across the country, many of them made by car (the driver's window sometimes providing Friedlander with an extra frame), these pictures capture an America as unblemished by romanticized notions of human nature as it is full of quirky human touches. Nevertheless, man's presence is not at stake here; streets, roads, façades, and buildings offer their own visual intrigue, without reference to their makers. And in the end, it is not even the grand buildings themselves that prick our interest, but rather the forgettable architectural elements--the poles, posts, sidewalks, fences, phone booths, alleys, parked cars--that through photographic juxtaposition with all kinds of buildings help us to discover the spirit of an Architectural America.
No living artist is more in touch with the look and feel of American towns and cities than Lee Friedlander. --James Enyeart Essays by James Enyeart.
Clothbound, 11.75 x 12.75 in. / 216 pgs / 192 duotones.
Reviews
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I was disappointed in the last Friedlander book I bought, The Desert Seen. Luckily, I had a chance to see his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art this summer. Seeing the actual prints made a huge difference and many of the images from the Desert Seen that I didn't "get", I "got" immediately at the MoMA show. I had seen a few stray images from Sticks and Stones in the past but did not realize the towering achievement that this work represented until the show. In my opinion, it is the pinnacle of his work and the aesthetic result of everything that came before. I bought the book the next week. It was beautiful in every way, including concept, execution, printing, binding, cover, and writing. The man is a genius and this book supports that contention. If you like Friedlander, you will love this book.
reviewed by titanium7 on November 28, 2006 2:36 AM
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For years -- probably decades -- I've been hoping to find a collection of Friedlander's great photos of the urban and suburban landscape. I'd buy almost any survey or monograph just to have the two or three examples that might be thrown in among the works of others, or among Friedlander's own wide range of subjects.
I'm delighted to say it was worth the wait. Page after beautifully printed page of these compositional masterpieces in large format -- it's almost too good to be true.
Like other photographers of "Main Street" or the strip, Friedlander finds beauty in unlikely places. Or maybe it's that he has FUN in unlikely places. His special contribution seems to be in creating a breathtaking (and often comical) tension between polar opposites: order/disorder; flat/deep; simple/complex; central/peripheral; deadpan/melodramatic; earnest/ironic; subtle/obvious; and so on. Friedlander has photographed many great jazz musicians; these photographs suggest that he has been influenced by their music, as he creates great riffs on the raw material he finds in the built environment.
Incidentally, I've seen this book in the Architecture section of some bookstores, but don't be fooled -- it is not really about buildings.
I'm delighted to say it was worth the wait. Page after beautifully printed page of these compositional masterpieces in large format -- it's almost too good to be true.
Like other photographers of "Main Street" or the strip, Friedlander finds beauty in unlikely places. Or maybe it's that he has FUN in unlikely places. His special contribution seems to be in creating a breathtaking (and often comical) tension between polar opposites: order/disorder; flat/deep; simple/complex; central/peripheral; deadpan/melodramatic; earnest/ironic; subtle/obvious; and so on. Friedlander has photographed many great jazz musicians; these photographs suggest that he has been influenced by their music, as he creates great riffs on the raw material he finds in the built environment.
Incidentally, I've seen this book in the Architecture section of some bookstores, but don't be fooled -- it is not really about buildings.
reviewed by webster on November 29, 2006 7:10 PM