William Christenberry. Alabama
Lee Friedlander
American, born 1934
1983
A gelatin silver photograph by Lee Friedlander that records a small Alabama storefront, assembling a handwritten civic notice, branded goods, and reflective glass into a layered, observational portrait of place and community.
A white, hand-lettered sign about housing grants first seizes the eye, then you move across stacked boxes and jars to the window’s glass where a shadowy reflected figure and the street beyond fold interior and exterior into a single, slightly disorienting plane.
The picture exemplifies Friedlander’s use of vernacular detail and reflections to collapse public and private space, extending documentary photography’s ability to show social conditions and the textured realities of everyday American life in the late 20th century.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
8 9/16 × 12 15/16" (21.7 × 32.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Purchase
Accession
643.2000
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
